South Korean President Lee Jae-myung urged North Korea on Thursday to resume dialogue after a long interruption, as tensions between the two countries mount over an explosion in the Demilitarised Zone that seriously injured three South Korean soldiers.
I hope North Korea will now join us on the path to restoring trust and resuming dialogue after a long interruption
Mutual accusations over the Demilitarised Zone explosion
South Korea blamed its northern neighbour on Wednesday for the explosion that occurred inside the Demilitarised Zone on 21 September and demanded an apology from Pyongyang. The South Korean military also said the incident "represents a clear violation of the armistice agreement and undermines the spirit of the existing agreements between the two Koreas".
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, responded to the South Korean accusations, saying that blaming her country for responsibility for the two explosions "descends to a low and filthy level befitting the followers of the Republic of Korea". The two Koreas technically remain at war after the Korean War, fought between 1950 and 1953, ended with the signing of an armistice agreement rather than a peace treaty.
While rejecting dialogue initiatives from Seoul, North Korea continued fortifying the border stretching along the Demilitarised Zone.
