Multiple North Korean soldiers ‘killed or injured’ by exploding landmines inside Demilitarized Zone just hours before Putin’s meeting with Kim Jong Un

Several North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in the demilitarized zone when South Korea fired warning shots early Tuesday morning.

The South Korean military said it fired the shots to ward off North Korean soldiers For the second time this month, they temporarily crossed the rivals’ land border.

An estimated 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers, while carrying out unspecified construction work on the northern side of the border, crossed the military demarcation line that bisects the countries around 8:30 a.m. local time.

The North Korean soldiers then withdrew after the South sent out warnings and fired shots, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that they did not see any suspicious activity afterward.

As they fled, an unspecified number of North Korean soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion, the Yonhap News Agency reported. according to the AFP.

“The North Korean military suffers multiple casualties due to a mine explosion during operations,” the report said, without giving further details.

The South previously fired warning shots on June 11 after another group of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the MDL.

But South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday’s incident took place in a different area along the central frontline region.

They said they do not believe the North Korean soldiers crossed the border deliberately and that the North did not fire back.

But they also said the North has increased construction activities in frontline border areas, such as installing suspected anti-tank barriers, strengthening roads and planting landmines.

The communist country announced in November it would abandon the terms of a 2018 military deal with Seoul and move more troops and equipment to the border, after South Korea suspended part of the deal in response to its successful launch Pyongyang of its first military spy satellite.

In recent weeks, South Korean officials said they had recently observed several explosions believed to be caused by mines in areas where North Korean soldiers were deployed for construction work, but that the activities continued despite an unspecified number of injuries or deaths.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff now expect North Korea to expand its border-building activities, which they say could be aimed at making it more difficult for North Korean civilians or soldiers to escape to the South, as Pyongyang’s leaders try to strengthen control over the population. .

The border intrusions come as tensions rise between the war-divided rivals, who in recent weeks have engaged in Cold War-style psychological warfare and made clear they are no longer bound by their historic military agreement. 2018 to reduce tensions.

Korea’s heavily fortified border, known as the Demilitarized Zone, has occasionally been a site of bloodshed and violent clashes between the rivals.

An estimated two million mines are located within and near the 150-mile border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides.

It is a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, North Korea is preparing for a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin.