South Korea blames North Korea for DMZ mine blast

South Korea's defence minister said Tuesday that preliminary findings found North Korea responsible for a landmine explosion in the Demilitarised Zone that injured three South Korean troops.

The September 21 blast happened inside the DMZ, the heavily mined buffer zone dividing the two Koreas. One of the injured South Korean troops lost a foot.

Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul told a parliamentary hearing that the blast was "a clear violation of the armistice agreement" and said North Korea bore responsibility.

Kang said South Korea would take "corresponding measures" and implement them in stages, but he did not give details.

The comments came a day after South Korea's defence ministry said North Korean mines were "highly suspected" of causing two explosions last week.

At Tuesday's hearing, Yang Jin-hyeok of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said a site investigation earlier in the day had found an unexploded North Korean plastic anti-personnel mine.

The DMZ is officially demilitarised, but its northern and southern boundaries are heavily fortified and remain littered with landmines. South Korea and North Korea remain technically at war because the Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.