Kim Yo Jong is a senior official of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea and the sister of leader Kim Jong Un. State media identified her in September 2026 as a department director of the party's Central Committee. She issues statements on relations with South Korea and the United States that the Korean Central News Agency publishes.
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: Department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, in a press statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency
Response to this claim
Kim Yo Jong said in a press statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on September 30, 2026 that South Korea's investigation results on the mine explosion are groundless and that South Korea is trying to fabricate evidence, and that North Korean soldiers have never crossed the border.
“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.”
The case asks whether North Korean forces planted mines south of the MDL, which depends in part on whether North Korean soldiers crossed the line. Kim said her soldiers have never crossed the border and called the crossing claim an assertion made to shift responsibility. In her account a disputed factual claim is untrue, so we labeled it Denied. The passage does not discuss the mines directly and does not say whether North Korea regards the blast site as its own side of the line.
Role at the time: Department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, in a press statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency
Response to this claim
Kim Yo Jong said in a press statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on September 30, 2026 that South Korea's investigation results on the mine explosion are groundless and that South Korea is trying to fabricate evidence, and that North Korean soldiers have never crossed the border.
“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.”
The case asks whether North Korean forces planted the mines. Kim said South Korea's results are groundless and the incident "a clear farce," and questioned the mine's provenance. In her account the South Korean attribution is untrue, so we labeled it Denied. She rejects the attribution but does not give another account of who laid the mines.
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
