Foreign Ministry Weighing Effectiveness of Response Options to North Korean Landmine Incident

The Foreign Ministry said on the 7th that it is comprehensively reviewing the merits of four options for a diplomatic response to the incident in which soldiers were injured by an explosion of a North Korean landmine in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ, the border area where both Koreas station their troops). The explanation came as opposition lawmakers criticized the ministry's slow response during a National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit of the ministry held the previous day.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun replied that all four options are under consideration: the adoption of a UN Security Council presidential statement or resolution, the unilateral dispatch of a letter, and taking no action at all. The ministry refers to the incident as an 'accident' and maintains that what matters is not whether a specific measure is taken, but how effectively that measure contributes to achieving its response objectives.

In 2015, when North Korea provoked with wooden-box landmines, the government sent a letter in the name of its ambassador to the UN to the Security Council president, expressing regret and urging an end to further provocations.