Unification Minister calls on Pyongyang to meet to discuss MDL

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Friday called on Pyongyang to come to dialogue and clearly define the Military Demarcation Line, saying that disparity in the two Koreas’ views on its location was the fundamental cause of the Sept. 21 incident in the Demilitarized Zone.

On Sept. 21, three South Korean soldiers were injured during a scheduled search operation in the DMZ. The South Korean military has since said that the explosions were caused by North Korean mines, while the United Nations Command stated that the Armistice Agreement that paused the 1950-53 Korean War was violated. Pyongyang, for its part, has denied all responsibility, claiming that Seoul leveled a false accusation.

“The line as measured by the South and North and the UNC are all different. If this is not resolved, a similar accident could happen at any time,” Chung said, saying the incident ultimately comes down to this disparity.

“As the minister of unification, I make a proposal to the North. (The two sides) must now meet and communicate — at the very least — confirming and measuring the MDL, communication must start.”

When questioned on his ministry’s position on the incident and Seoul’s response to the matter, Chung said that the government will take steps once the investigation is concluded.

Chung, however, rejected the possibility of resuming anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts, saying that such a move would be “irresponsible and extremely dangerous.”

Chung also stressed that the incident highlights the need for “peaceful coexistence” between the two Koreas, posing the rhetorical question: “Were there land mine explosions when tours to Kumgangsan and the Kaesong industrial park were in operation?”

Tours for South Koreans to Kumgangsan in the North were shut down in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean soldier. The inter-Korean Kaesong industrial park just north of the border, meanwhile, halted operations in 2016, following nuclear and missile tests by the North.

While the closure of neither project was specifically linked to land mines, there was such an incident in 2015, when two South Korean soldiers were seriously injured by North Korean anti-personnel mines planted south of the MDL.