South Korea slams North over DMZ mine blast

But the defence ministry said further tests had confirmed “they were North Korean land mines – planted with the intention to kill”.

Officials don t know if other mines were really rooted. But Lee was not given a meeting with Kim Jong-un or Kim Yang-gon, the North Korean official in charge of inter-Korean relations.

Still, a special investigation team from the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission was ordered by UNC commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti to examine the incident. Roughly 28,000 U.S. troops are based in South Korea.

The poll also showed that 37 percent want to directly invest in facilities, with 28 percent saying they want to subcontract work to North Korean companies, South Korea’s News Agency (Yonhap) reported.

“The investigation determined that the devices were recently emplaced”, it said, ruling out the possibility they were old mines displaced over the border by shifting soil patterns. Such a move would violate the armistice that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, which still technically continues.

The South responded by resuming border propaganda operations after a break of more than a decade, switching on batteries of powerful loudspeakers to blare out messages denouncing border provocations. He said the broadcasts emphasized that the mine explosions were a provocation by the North.

North Korea also objects to joint military drills between Seoul and Washington that will begin soon.

The impact of the explosion resulted in serious injuries for two soldiers, identified by their surnames Kim and Ha, who were on routine patrol inside the DMZ.

But those courageous enough to give North Korea a try can help finance anything from a bus terminal to restaurants, gas stations and the $90-million refurbishment of a faded pea-green government hotel on the water’s edge, according to documents seen by Reuters.

But South Korean civil activists have continued – much to Pyongyang’s fury – to send anti-North leaflets over the border using helium balloons.

A petition to switch back to British time has gathered some support in recent years and in 2013 a parliamentary commission said a switch could have profound effects on eating, sleeping and working habits in Spain, famed for long lunches, siestas and late shifts at work.

Two non-commissioned officers were injured on August. 4 when wooden-box mines planted by North Korea in the demilitarized zone near Paju, Gyeonggi Province exploded, the Defense Ministry here said on Monday.