SEOUL, South Korea — Three South Korean military officers were injured Monday when an explosion occurred near South Korea’s heavily fortified border with North Korea, the Defense Ministry said.
The ministry said the blast took place during an unspecified operation in the Demilitarized Zone, the buffer region separating the two countries.
Officials did not immediately identify the cause of the explosion or say whether it may have involved a land mine planted by North Korea.
The two Koreas have seen relations sharply deteriorate in recent months, with Pyongyang adding mines, anti-tank barriers and other fortifications along the front line.
Two of the injured officers were evacuated by helicopter, while the third was transported by land before being flown from the area, the ministry said. All three are receiving treatment at a military hospital near Seoul.
The DMZ stretches 248 kilometers (155 miles) and is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide. Considered one of the world’s most heavily armed borders, it is dotted with an estimated 2 million mines and guarded by barbed-wire fences, tank traps and troops from both sides. The zone was established after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
South Korea has expressed growing concern over increased North Korean activity near the military demarcation line as the North reinforces its border defenses amid prolonged tensions. The South Korean military has not officially confirmed media reports that North Korean soldiers crossed the line more than 20 times during frontline operations in August alone.
In April 2025, South Korean forces fired warning shots to drive back about 10 North Korean soldiers who crossed into the eastern section of the DMZ. After South Korea issued audio warnings and fired the shots, the soldiers withdrew without a clash. North Korean troops crossed the border three times in June 2024, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots.
Kim Jong Un has suspended nearly all cooperation and diplomacy with South Korea in recent years and has labeled Seoul the country’s most hostile enemy amid a stalemate in broader nuclear negotiations with Washington.
North Korean mines have washed downstream into South Korea during periods of heavy river flow in past years, killing or wounding civilians. In August 2015, land mine explosions maimed two South Korean soldiers and heightened tensions between the two Koreas.