(EDITORIAL from Korea JoongAng Daily on Oct. 1)

North Korea must be held accountable for DMZ mine provocationPyongyang's denial of responsibility for a DMZ mine blast demands a firm response, clear accountability and stronger border enforcement. Kim Yo-jong, the director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea and sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Tuesday dismissed the South Korean military's finding that a mine explosion in the western demilitarized zone (DMZ) was caused by a North Korean mine as an "obvious self-staged farce." She threatened "immediate and merciless" retaliation if South Korean troops respond with live fire to Pyongyang's so-called border fortification activities. Kim even called the 2015 wooden-box mine incident a fabrication, despite the North having expressed regret afterward. Kim's statement, issued a day after the military announced its findings, deserves no credence. A North Korean military mine recovered at the scene constitutes physical evidence. The United Nations Command (UNC) said yesterday that its investigation determined an armistice violation had occurred and that it would address the violation through established mechanisms. The agreement prohibits hostile acts inside the DMZ, while crossing the military demarcation line (MDL) requires UNC authorization. The South Korean military also demanded that North Korea immediately halt the "border fortification" ordered by leader Kim Jong-un since 2024, apologize for the incident and take responsible measures. These belated demands are appropriate. The military did not specify what "responsible measures" should entail. Seoul should demand a pledge to prevent a recurrence and require Pyongyang to restore the area by removing mines it planted on the South Korean side of the DMZ. North Korea must be held accountable to the end. Even if Pyongyang does not respond immediately, such demands are essential to preventing future incidents and ensuring stable management of the DMZ. North Korea is also repeatedly crossing the MDL along the eastern front, as Kim acknowledged in her statement, while installing triple-layer fences and laying mines. The military must respond more firmly to such activity than it has so far. That would be consistent with the government's position expressed by President Lee Jae Myung yesterday at the launch ceremony for a next-generation Aegis destroyer: Self-reliant defense is sovereignty. Above all, it means defending Korea's territorial sovereignty by its own means. The 2015 mine attack severely injured two South Korean soldiers and triggered a military standoff before Pyongyang expressed regret. That precedent makes it especially important that Seoul establish responsibility clearly this time rather than allow the latest incident to become another unresolved border provocation. Maintaining peace in the DMZ requires restraint, but restraint cannot mean overlooking violations. A stable border depends on clear rules, credible enforcement and accountability when those rules are breached.(END)