UN Command says it has "no further comment while the incident remains under investigation" after South Korea's preliminary findings
United Nations CommandUN Command spokeswoman Choi Min-jung, replying by email to Stars and Stripes
Asked to comment on the Joint Chiefs of Staff's September 28 preliminary findings, UN Command spokeswoman Choi Min-jung told Stars and Stripes by email on September 29, 2026 that the command had no further comment while the incident remained under investigation. Yonhap reported that the command gave the same reply to its request for comment.
“no further comment while the incident remains under investigation”
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Where this statement fits
Did North Korea plant the antipersonnel mines that injured three South Korean soldiers in the DMZ on September 21, 2026?
On September 21, 2026, two explosions in the western Demilitarized Zone wounded three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously, as they cleared a route for a planned UN Command inspection. South Korea's military places the blasts about 10 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on September 28 that North Korean mines were highly likely the cause, and on September 30 it demanded an apology from North Korea. Also on September 30, the UN Command said its joint investigation with South Korea's military identified an active North Korean anti-personnel mine on the South Korean side of the MDL and determined that an Armistice Agreement violation occurred. The command did not say which side committed the violation. Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official, rejected the South Korean findings as groundless and said North Korean soldiers have never crossed the border. The joint investigation had not issued final results as of September 30, 2026. The disputed claim is whether North Korean forces planted the mines that exploded.
Source and context
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About this source
Stars and Stripes report of September 29, 2026 on South Korea's preliminary findings, citing a transcript of Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won's September 28 briefing and an emailed reply from UN Command spokeswoman Choi Min-jung.
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About this source
Korea Herald's copy of a Yonhap report on the September 28, 2026 briefing by Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the preliminary results of the joint investigation with the UN Command. The English quotations are Yonhap's rendering of Kwon's Korean remarks.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The reply came the day after the Joint Chiefs' briefing, while the joint on-site investigation with the UN Command's Military Armistice Commission was still under way.
After the quotation
The next day the command issued a statement saying its investigators identified an active North Korean anti-personnel mine on the South Korean side of the MDL and that it determined an Armistice Agreement violation occurred.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether North Korean forces planted the mines. Asked about the South Korean military's attribution, the command declined to comment while the investigation continued, and neither adopted nor rejected the attribution. We labeled it Explicitly stayed out because the sources record a stated refusal to comment, not silence.
- Recorded on
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More from this case
Read the full caseDemocratic Party leader Kim Min-seok says the DMZ explosion "has been revealed to be caused by North Korea planting landmines" south of the MDL
“The DMZ explosion has been revealed to be caused by North Korea planting landmines south of the Military Demarcation Line.”Read statement
Kim Yo Jong says North Korean soldiers "have never crossed the border" and that the crossing claim is meant to shift responsibility
“The "crossing the border" of our soldiers touted by the ROK military is a deliberate and planned strained assertion to shift the responsibility for escalating tension on to the DPRK. Clearly speaking, our soldiers have never crossed the border. This is a clear cavil and a provocation. The ROK military should think first of all about what the world will say about its inability to distinguish its own land and other's land, failing to properly distinguish the boundary which can be confirmed by the naked eye.”Read statement
Kim Yo Jong says the mine incident is "a clear farce" and South Korea is "cooking up the groundless results"
“In conclusion, the incident is a clear farce reminiscent of the "wooden-box mine incident" which disturbed the world more than ten years ago, in consideration of the time and method of provocation. At that time the puppet forces forcibly linked the "mine explosion incident" that occurred on the western border with the DPRK and continuously escalated the tension under the pretext of it. What should not be overlooked is the fact that the armed gangsters of the ROK are now cooking up the groundless results and "justifying their conduct" for political and military provocation against the DPRK, openly talking about "reasonable and corresponding enforcement of measures". How can we sit and watch their despicable act of rashly doubting anyone after exploding a mine of doubtful provenance and talking about the breach of the Armistice Agreement.”Read statement