South Korean military, UN Command conduct joint probe on DMZ blast site: JCS
Seoul, Sep 27
South Korea's military has conducted a joint on-site investigation with the UN Command to look into the cause of a suspected mine blast inside the Demilitarised Zone last week, officials said Sunday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said a survey team comprising some 40 personnel reached the vicinity of the suspected explosion site inside the DMZ and surveyed the area using mine detectors, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The joint probe comes just six days after the explosion occurred south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas, leaving two officers seriously injured.
On Thursday, a South Korean presidential official pledged a prompt and thorough investigation into who was responsible for the recent explosions in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that injured three South Korean soldiers.
"An objective, prompt and thorough investigation is under way," the presidential official told reporters in Mexico City on Thursday while accompanying South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during his state visit to Mexico.
The official's remark came in response to suspected mine explosions in the DMZ on Monday that injured three South Korean soldiers, prompting forensic analysis of collected mine fragments to determine whether they were of South or North Korean origin.
"A thorough fact-finding (probe) is needed to determine whether they were mines, and if they were mines, what kinds of mines they were, as well as whether they were buried by North Korea, and if not, what happened," he said.
The investigation is being carried out carefully in coordination with the United Nations Command because the site of the explosions is a new reconnaissance route, making it dangerous to tread on, the official said, ruling out any possibility of a cover-up.
"Although dangerous, we will (investigate) promptly to announce the results."
— IANS
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