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South Korea proposed military talks with North Korea on Friday to pinpoint the exact location of their shared border and restore vital communication lines following a landmine blast in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).
“The South Korean defence ministry formally proposes holding military talks with North Korea to mutually confirm the precise location of the land Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and discuss ways to restore military communication lines and prevent accidental clashes in border areas,” stated Kim Hong-cheol, deputy defence minister for policy.
Seoul also expressed openness to three-way discussions involving the United Nations Command and suggested negotiating specific dates and locations through the truce village of Panmunjom.
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The proposal follows weeks of escalating friction after South Korea accused Pyongyang of planting landmines inside the DMZ that injured three South Korean soldiers, an accusation the North fiercely denies.
In response, Seoul resumed loudspeaker broadcasts and fired warning shots to deter North Korean troops from crossing the MDL, actions that Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, characterised as legitimate defensive measures.
South Korean defence officials warned that it remains difficult to predict “what further incidents could occur if this situation is allowed to continue unaddressed,” noting that Pyongyang failed to respond to a similar talk offer made last year.
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Meanwhile, North Korea has threatened further military escalations along the frontier.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, recently announced that Pyongyang moved new troop units into firing positions along the border, prepared its own loudspeakers, and placed unspecified new countermeasures on alert.
She mockingly dismissed South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s calls for dialogue, labelling them “the climax of the farce.” As tensions mount, South Korea’s foreign ministry announced plans to submit a formal letter to the UN Security Council president, citing the landmine incident as a clear violation of the armistice agreement.
