North Korean Landmines (北지뢰)

Landmines laid by North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and along the Military Demarcation Line, which became a key variable in inter-Korean tensions through the wooden-box mine provocation and

North Korean Landmines (北지뢰)

Overview

North Korean landmines (北지뢰) is a collective term for mines laid by the Korean People's Army in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and around the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the Korean Peninsula, as well as along infiltration routes into the South. The most representative type is the so-called "wooden-box mine" (木函地雷), made by placing explosives and a pressure plate inside a wooden box; it came to the fore as a key variable in inter-Korean military tension through the August 2015 DMZ wooden-box mine provocation and the large-scale re-emplacement in 2024. Landmines are a representative asymmetric capability that can, at low cost, delay an adversary's troop movement and exert psychological pressure.

Main Content

Concept and Structural Characteristics

The wooden-box mine is a pressure-activated mine consisting of a rectangular wooden box filled with explosives such as TNT and fitted with a pressure plate on top. Because it contains little metal, it is difficult to detect with a metal detector, and since the wood is vulnerable to moisture, its performance degrades when buried for long periods; nonetheless, unexploded mines remain a threat to civilians and military personnel for a long time. North Korea is also known to operate ankle-mine types (believed to be of the PMN type), anti-tank mines, and radial mines. They tend to be laid intensively on approach routes to South Korean military facilities, on patrol paths near guard posts (GPs), and on ridges around the barbed-wire fences.

Emplacement Locations and Scale

Within the DMZ and in some areas south of the Southern Limit Line (MDL), mines laid by UN forces and U.S. forces immediately after the Korean War are mixed together with mines laid by the North Korean military. Because no accurate emplacement maps have been secured in the more than 70 years since the armistice, the "mine belt" itself remains a topographical hazard. A number of wooden-box mines were also discovered during the 2018 demining work in the Panmunjom Joint Security Area (JSA).

Major Incidents

August 4, 2015, DMZ wooden-box mine provocation: Two of three wooden-box mines exploded on a patrol path near the southern barbed-wire fence of the DMZ in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, severely wounding Staff Sergeant Ha Jae-heon and Staff Sergeant Kim Jeong-won, whose legs were amputated. The Ministry of National Defense concluded that they had been deliberately laid by the North Korean military, and the South Korean military resumed loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North.
August 20, 2015, artillery provocation and the August 25 agreement: The North Korean military fired artillery targeting the loudspeaker broadcasts, and the two Koreas agreed to ease tensions through the August 25 Agreement.
2018 September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement: Demining work proceeded as part of the trial withdrawal of GPs in the DMZ, the demilitarization of the JSA, and the joint excavation of remains by the two Koreas.
Large-scale re-emplacement in 2024: From April, the North Korean military re-laid wooden-box mines in large quantities inside the DMZ, and in June some North Korean soldiers crossed the MDL into the South and came under warning shots from the South Korean military.
2024 North Korean military mine explosion accidents: The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that explosions occurred one after another among North Korean troops mobilized for mine-laying work, producing dozens of casualties.

Status under International Law

Although the Ottawa Convention (1997) prohibits the use, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, North Korea has not joined the convention. South Korea likewise remains a non-party, leaving the DMZ landmine issue in a blind spot of the international humanitarian law system. Nevertheless, international discussions on demining and victim assistance continue.

Military and Humanitarian Implications

Landmines are both a delaying-operations tool that slows the maneuver and initial response of South Korean forces and a psychological warfare tool that instills persistent fear in troops and residents of the border region. At the same time, unexploded mines cause civilian casualties, restrictions on the use of farmland, and disruptions to ecological and development plans over the course of decades. Because many mines have unclear layers and dates of emplacement, debate continues over determining responsibility and allocating the burden of removal costs.

Recent Developments

With the effect of the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement suspended in June 2024, restrictions on military activity within the DMZ disappeared, and the two Koreas confronted each other by re-arming GPs and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North. Since the second half of 2024, North Korea has continued laying mines, reinforcing barbed-wire fences, and clearing vegetation to create barren ground in various sections of the DMZ, and in this process deaths and injuries from explosions among the mine-laying personnel accumulated. In 2025 as well, the landmine risk in the border region has not been resolved, and with the possibility raised that heavy rains and landslides could wash away or shift mines, South Korean military authorities are reinforcing detection and removal equipment, mine detection dogs, and unmanned search assets. Internationally, debate over the use of anti-personnel landmines has reignited in places such as the war in Ukraine, bringing the question of the Ottawa Convention's effectiveness to the fore as well.