North Korea appears to have recently installed fences and structures south of the Military Demarcation Line in areas other than the site of recent twin land mine blasts that injured three military personnel, a lawmaker said Monday, suggesting that the encroachment is more widespread than previously known.
Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the main opposition People Power Party said fences and other structures south of the MDL ― which divides the two Koreas ― had been newly identified in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, where the South Korean Army's 21st Infantry Division is headquartered.
"North Korean encroachment south of the MDL involving minefields and other facilities is not limited to the 25th Division sector but is occurring in several frontline areas," Yu said.
The lawmaker also said the structures in the 21st Division sector were believed to have been installed in August or September. He added that similar activity elsewhere was believed to have taken place from last fall through early this year.
Yu also suggested that minefields and tactical roads may extend south of the MDL, noting that North Korean border facilities are typically arranged — viewed from the South — in the order of minefields, tactical roads and fences.
The disclosure comes amid heightened scrutiny of North Korean activity along the border following two mine explosions on Sept. 21 in the 25th Infantry Division sector near Paju and Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province, far west of the 21st Division sector. Three South Korean military personnel were seriously injured in the blasts south of the MDL, inside the Demilitarized Zone.
In a briefing on Sept. 28, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Sept. 21 blasts were highly likely to have been caused by North Korean antipersonnel mines, while the US-led United Nations Command later said investigators found an active North Korean antipersonnel mine on the South Korean side of the MDL.
Yu called for stronger preventive measures in the 21st Division area, citing recent remarks by Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who singled out the area as a place where North Korea would increase its firepower.
The lawmaker also argued that the Sept. 21 incident underscored the government's failure to adequately respond to earlier warnings, noting that he had raised similar concerns during a parliamentary interpellation before the incident.
"The Lee Jae Myung administration must clearly disclose to the public all facts identified so far regarding North Korea's attempts to neutralize the MDL, along with follow-up measures and response plans," Yu said.
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