North Korea has taken its dispute with Seoul over a border blast to the United Nations, sending a letter to the UN Security Council that accuses South Korea of inventing the landmine explosion that wounded three South Korean soldiers, according to state media.
The sharp exchange has further inflamed an already volatile standoff between the two Koreas. Tensions have climbed since South Korea last month attributed the blast inside the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)—the heavily monitored buffer that divides the peninsula—to landmines planted by the North, an allegation Pyongyang has vehemently denied.
In its latest move, North Korea’s permanent representative to the United Nations dispatched a letter to the UN Security Council condemning what it called the “provocation the ROK committed by groundlessly shifting the blame for the dubious ‘mine explosion incident'”.
The message argued that the landmine episode “fabricated by the ROK, is a sinister obstructive move to brand as a ‘military invasion’, delay and impede the DPRK’s fortification of its southern border,” using acronyms for the two countries’ official names.
North Korea also described the incident as a “farce to evade the responsibility for the ever-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula,” the report said.
Pyongyang’s letter defended its border construction as lawful, calling its ongoing fortification work “a legitimate and just exercise of its sovereignty going in strict conformity with the UN Charter,” while criticizing South Korea for firing warning shots at soldiers involved in the effort.
“This is a wanton violation of Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter which stresses the need to refrain from the use of force or threat against territorial integrity of any country in international relations,” said the official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).
Seoul, for its part, has also turned to the UN system. South Korea’s foreign ministry sent a separate letter to the president of the UN Security Council last week, reiterating that a North Korean landmine caused the explosion and describing it as a “clear violation of the armistice agreement”.
The latest statement follows South Korea’s recent proposal for military talks with the North aimed at “mutually confirm the precise location” of their border and to discuss reopening communication channels that have repeatedly gone quiet during periods of confrontation.
That offer came shortly after Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korea’s leader, said Pyongyang had moved new troop units into “firing position” along the border.
