Suspected Landmine Blast Injures Three South Korean Troops at Heavily Fortified North Korea Border

Three South Korean military officers have been injured, two seriously, in a suspected landmine explosion inside the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone separating South and North Korea.

The blast occurred at around 10.50am on Monday during a search operation south of the Military Demarcation Line in the western section of the DMZ, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Military authorities said there was a 'high probability' that a landmine caused the explosion, although investigators have not determined where the device came from.

Two senior officers suffered serious injuries, with one losing an ankle, according to military sources cited by Yonhap. None of the three was reported to be in a life-threatening condition.

Helicopters Evacuate Injured Officers

An emergency helicopter entered the DMZ in coordination with the United Nations Command to evacuate the wounded personnel.

Two officers were airlifted directly from the area, while the third was initially transported by road before being transferred by helicopter to a military hospital near Seoul.

The troops were reportedly conducting route-clearance work aimed at finding mines and other explosives and establishing safe paths for military operations.

South Korean officials are examining several possibilities, including whether an unidentified mine already inside the zone was disturbed or whether a North Korean mine may have been swept south during recent heavy rain.

Officials have not established that North Korea planted the device involved in Monday's explosion.

DMZ Remains Packed With Landmines

The 248-kilometre-long and roughly four-kilometre-wide DMZ is one of the world's most heavily militarised borders.

Around two million mines are estimated to remain in and around the zone, alongside barbed-wire fencing, anti-tank barriers and heavily armed troops.

North Korea has further fortified the frontier since 2024, laying additional mines and reinforcing fences and anti-tank barriers after Kim Jong Un declared in late 2023 that inter-Korean relations were those of 'two states hostile to each other'.

A similar incident in August 2015 severely wounded two South Korean soldiers after North Korean wooden-box mines exploded during a patrol. One soldier lost both legs and another lost an ankle.

Yonhap said Monday's incident was the first landmine explosion on the South Korean side of the DMZ classified as causing a serious injury since the 2015 attack. A separate blast inside the DMZ in November 2025 left a South Korean soldier with a fractured ankle during mine-detection work.

Blast Comes Amid Renewed Military Tensions

The explosion comes during another period of heightened military activity on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea on Sunday, with one travelling about 450 kilometres and the second more than 600 kilometres, according to South Korea's military.

Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, has also criticised recent US-led military exercises and warned that Pyongyang could take stronger countermeasures if it believes its security or national interests are threatened.

South Korean troops have meanwhile reported repeated encounters with North Korean soldiers close to the demarcation line as Pyongyang expands its border defences.

More than 20 such crossings were detected in August alone, according to South Korean military officials. The JCS said the incidents occurred as North Korean troops carried out unfinished border-fortification work and did not appear to indicate unusual military activity.

Investigators have not yet linked Monday's blast to those activities, and the origin of the suspected mine remains unknown. The incident nevertheless underlines the continuing danger posed by explosives scattered across a border where both sides are operating amid increasingly tense military conditions.