Senior Official: UN Response Under Review Over DMZ Explosion

A senior government official said Tuesday that the government is reviewing all possible responses to an explosion of a North Korean landmine in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), including raising the issue with the United Nations. Responses to the North Korean landmine could range from military measures by the Defense Ministry to diplomatic action by the Foreign Ministry. On diplomatic steps, the official said the Foreign Ministry's response to the 2015 landmine incident could serve as a reference, adding, "We are examining past and current measures, including through the UN." The official called the landmine incident "a very unfortunate event that has reminded us once again, in a keen way, of the importance of our security." Once the final investigation results are out, observers say a response similar to that of 2015 could be considered.

The senior official assessed that the fatigue from accumulated pending issues had been "resolved for now" through the South Korea-U.S. summit held on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session last month. He added, "Security consultations will also resume soon, and we intend to move negotiations forward as we wish and as quickly as possible." Regarding security consultations on a nuclear-powered submarine, uranium enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear fuel, and shipbuilding cooperation, he acknowledged that "we have not made as much progress as we hoped," but said, "We will push ahead again quickly soon."

On President Lee Jae-myung's remarks in an interview with a foreign media outlet suggesting that sanctions relief on North Korea could be traded for Pyongyang halting its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the senior official interpreted the comments as being made with a "breakthrough to break the current stalemate" in mind. "This could be pursued as one option, and we are deliberating on how to handle it in practical terms," he said.