SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea sent a letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, urging the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to apologize for a recent land mine explosion in the inter-Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) and take responsible measures, Yonhap News Agency reported.
South Korea's permanent representative to the United Nations sent the letter on Thursday, saying the blast was caused by mines planted by the DPRK military and constituted a clear violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which officially ended the three-year-long Korean War.
The letter also urged the DPRK to engage in dialogue to prevent further escalation of tensions and restore mutual trust. It called on the international community to take note of the DPRK's recent description of South Korean military activities near the military demarcation line (MDL) as "provocations" and its attempts to blame South Korea for escalating regional tensions.
The explosion occurred on Sept. 21, when South Korean soldiers were carrying out a mission on the South Korean side of the DMZ near the MDL, injuring three soldiers, two of them seriously.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Oct. 5 that its final investigation found the blast had been caused by anti-personnel mines planted by the DPRK south of the MDL, urging the DPRK to apologize and immediately remove the mines.
The DPRK foreign ministry rejected South Korea's findings on Oct. 6, calling the incident a "farce" fabricated by South Korea and accusing Seoul of imposing a unilateral conclusion and shifting responsibility to DPRK in what it described as a serious provocation aimed at damaging the DPRK's national image. ■