Seoul South Korea’s Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul has warned that the government will take “appropriate, substantial and corresponding” measures if an investigation confirms that North Korean land mines caused a recent explosion inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). Two South Korean soldiers were severely wounded in the September 21 incident, which involved two separate blasts south of the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas. The explosions are suspected to have been caused by land mines, although the exact nature and origin of the devices have not yet been conclusively established. Kang made the remarks on Monday after meeting Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the opposition People Power Party (PPP), at South Korea’s National Assembly. He said an on-site investigation was continuing and that authorities would provide a transparent explanation once the facts were established. The minister was also questioned about reports that soldiers had seen a North Korean wooden-box land mine near the explosion site. Kang said there were also statements indicating that the device may not have been a wooden-box mine, stressing that its precise nature remained unclear. Kang rejected accusations that the military was attempting to downplay or conceal the incident. He said there had been no intentional delay or cover-up and reiterated the government’s commitment to transparency. The incident has triggered political disagreement in South Korea over how the investigation should be handled. The ruling Democratic Party has proposed a joint inspection of the site, while the PPP initially called for a hearing before the parliamentary defence committee. The parliamentary national defence committee has agreed to hold a plenary session on Tuesday to question officials about the explosion. Democratic Party lawmakers visited the DMZ without their PPP counterparts, while senior PPP committee member Lim Jong-deuk later said his party had accepted the proposal for Tuesday’s hearing. For now, South Korean authorities have stopped short of conclusively attributing the blast to North Korea, pending completion of the investigation.