Kang Shin-chul is South Korea's minister of national defense. A retired four-star Army general, he was deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command before President Lee Jae Myung nominated him as defense minister on August 30, 2026. He took office on September 22, 2026.
Case
Seoul's military says North Korean mines likely caused two September 21 DMZ blasts that wounded three soldiers. North Korea calls the findings groundless. The UN Command said it identified an active North Korean mine south of the line but named no side.
Role at the time: Minister of National Defense, answering lawmakers at a plenary session of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee
Response to this claim
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on September 28, 2026 that North Korean land mines were highly likely the cause of the two explosions that wounded three South Korean soldiers south of the Military Demarcation Line on September 21, and said on September 30 that South Korean soldiers were seriously injured by North Korean landmines while conducting search operations south of that line.
“It is clearly a violation of the armistice agreement, and the responsibility lies with North Korea, so we will take corresponding measures”
Kang said the explosion was clearly an armistice violation and that responsibility lies with North Korea, and he answered yes when asked whether he was certain North Korea-planted mines caused it. That accepts the attribution and criticizes the conduct. His pledge of corresponding measures was framed as applying if the cause is confirmed, but his answer on the cause was unqualified, so we labeled it Condemned. His remarks on how long the mine had been underground concern timing, not who planted it.
Role at the time: Minister of National Defense, speaking to reporters after his inauguration
Statement summary
On September 22, 2026, his first day as defense minister, Kang Shin-chul urged North Korea to stop its border fortification and said the explosion the day before could be one of the secondary effects of North Korea's border-hardening. He also said the military had not confirmed whether the suspected minefield, the patrol route and the explosion site matched, and that the investigation must determine that.
“There are secondary effects that stem from North Korea's border-hardening, and this (explosion) could be one of them”
The case asks whether North Korean forces planted the mines. Kang linked the blast to North Korea's border work only as a possibility and said the military could not yet confirm whether the sites matched. The position depends on what the investigation determines, so we labeled it Mixed or conditional.
Statement dates: September 22, 2026 to September 29, 2026
Statement dates: September 22, 2026 to September 29, 2026
Statement dates: September 22, 2026 to September 29, 2026
