[Yang Nak-gyu's Defense Club] Emergency of Wooden Box Mines After Monsoon... What Are the Measures?

Mine Detector-II developed by Hanwha Systems, a domestic defense company.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] As heavy rain poured down in the central region, a 1km section of the frontline General Outpost (GOP) barbed wire fence was reported to have been washed away. In addition, with North Korea releasing water from the Hwanggang Dam without prior notice, a large number of North Korean wooden box landmines could be carried downstream, causing military authorities to be on high alert.

Gyeonggi Province issued a flood warning for the Imjin River basin as the water level at Pilsunggyo Bridge, the northernmost point of the Imjin River south of the Military Demarcation Line, reached a record high of 13.12m on the evening of the 5th. Consequently, 1,466 residents from the 'Imjin River lowland risk areas' in Yeoncheon and Paju were evacuated to designated shelters.

Regarding North Korea’s opening of the sluice gates of the Hwanggang Dam upstream of the Imjin River without prior notice, President Moon Jae-in stated on the 6th, "If the North had informed us in advance about the release from the Hwanggang Dam, it would have greatly helped in managing the water volume at the Gunam Dam, but unfortunately, that is not the case." He added, "Although there was a past agreement between the South and North to do so, it has not been properly implemented."

The problem lies with the wooden box landmines drifting downstream due to the washed-away barbed wire fence and the Hwanggang Dam water release. The barbed wire fence, which starts along the banks of the Imjin River, extends a total length of 248 km (155 miles) to Myeongho-ri, Goseong County on the East Coast. The sections where the fence has been washed away are reported to be concentrated in the western region. Especially, with heavy rain warnings issued mainly for the central region accompanied by gusts, thunder, and lightning, the length of the damaged fence sections could increase. In July 2010, a resident named Han (50), who was illegally fishing inside the civilian access control line in Jangnam-myeon, Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, found two wooden box landmines in the tributary Sami Stream of the Imjin River. One of the mines exploded while he was carrying them out, resulting in his death at the scene.

The military estimates that the minefield area on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and both the northern and southern sides of the Civilian Control Line (CCL) is about 40 times the size of Yeouido. This area contains not only wooden box landmines but also M-14 and M-16 anti-personnel mines, and M-15 anti-tank mines, with an estimated total of 2 million mines.

In particular, wooden box landmines are non-metallic mines, making detection virtually impossible even if buried only 5 to 10 cm underground. The mine detectors (PRS-17K) previously used by the military were introduced in 1995 and had exceeded their service life of 8 years, rendering them useless. Therefore, the military contracted with the domestic defense company Hanwha Systems to develop the Mine Detector-II (photo). Hanwha Systems has invested 31.4 billion KRW by this year to develop the Mine Detector-II and plans to produce 1,300 units. The Mine Detector-II can detect mines buried more than 30 cm underground and can detect over 95% of both metallic and non-metallic mines.

Some voices suggest that mine removal should be conducted in cooperation with international organizations, not just the military. Cambodia, which has the highest number of buried mines in the world, established a government agency for mine removal and cooperated with five international NGOs to remove over one million mines to date. Taiwan also removed 130,000 mines on Kinmen Island in 2015.

However, South Korea is still at a beginner level. Since 2010, three bills allowing civilian organizations to remove mines have been proposed in the National Assembly but were all discarded due to expiration of terms. Recently, Kim Hak-yong of the Liberty Korea Party and others proposed deploying conscientious objectors to mine removal work, but the military rejected this. The military’s position is that it is difficult to deploy conscientious objectors without confirming their expertise.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.