South Korea says preparing response to force North Korean apology over DMZ blast

South Korea is preparing a response ​to force North Korea to ‌apologise ​for a mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that seriously wounded two South Korean soldiers, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

South ‌Korea is also calling on Pyongyang to come to the table to discuss the misalignment of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which bisects the DMZ, the spokesperson said. The September 21 blast wounded ‌three South Korean troops, two of them seriously.

The spokesperson, Chung Bin-na, did not specify ‌what measures would be taken in response to the blast, which South Korea has said was caused by North Korean mines, citing the results of a joint investigation with the United Nations Command. Chung said North Korea must ⁠remove the ​mines it planted ⁠in the DMZ south of the MDL, but also said there were differences in the exact line that separates ⁠the Korean Peninsula as recognised by the two Koreas.

Differing views of the border line are one ​factor contributing to tension in the area, Chung said. Some sections of the MDL, which ⁠stretches more than 200 km (124.27 miles) between the east and west coasts with 1,900 markers, have become difficult ⁠to ​identify after decades of limited access inside the DMZ since it was drawn up in 1953 at the end of the Korean War.

North Korea on Friday rejected as "groundless" ⁠Seoul's accusation that North Korean mines seriously wounded South Korean soldiers in the DMZ and dismissed Seoul's ⁠demand for an apology, ⁠state news agency KCNA reported. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North's leader Kim Jong Un, said Pyongyang had not deliberately ‌planted mines in ‌the border zone, KCNA reported.