Anchor: The South Korean military has detected that North Korean troops are installing more land mines in the demilitarized zone(DMZ) between the two Koreas. Military officials told KBS that the North Korean "wooden-box mines" could be swept away down to the South during the current monsoon season.
Kim Bum-soo reports. 

Report: South Korean soldiers have detected that North Korea is doubling the number of landmines in the demilitarized zone(DMZ) between the two Koreas.

A South Korean military official told KBS on Sunday that the North has been planting more than four thousand mines in eight areas in the DMZ this year.

The official explained that the North Korean military replaces older land mines with new ones between May and August annually, and this year, the enemy is doubling the amount across the heavily fortified DMZ borders from the west to the east.

The Seoul official said more than 70 percent of the North Korean mines are "wooden-box mines" which can be easily swept to the South during inundation in monsoon seasons.

The official added that the military is not excluding the possibility that the North could purposefully send wooden-box explosives by releasing the water in the Hwanggang Dam to the South along the Imjin River.

Every year, 20 to 30 North Korean wooden landmines have been found in the Imjin and Hantan river basins. In July 2010, around 190 North Korean wooden landmines were floated to Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province, killing a South Korean civilian and injuring another.

Developed by the Soviet Union, wooden landmines, or PMD series mines, contain 200 grams explosive and detonator inside a 20-by-nine centimeter box that is four-centimeters tall.

The mine with a two-meter killing radius detonates when the box is opened or when a one kilogram force is exerted on top of the mine. The South Korean military estimates that wooden landmines are five times as destructive as M-14 anti-personnel landmines.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.