Source : BRICS NEWS
North Korea says it has the right to defend itself if its border is violated, BRICS News reported on October 26, 2026, as Pyongyang and Seoul trade accusations at the United Nations over a landmine blast in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that wounded South Korean soldiers last month.
The warning was set out in a letter sent on October 25 by North Korea’s permanent representative to the United Nations to the president of the UN Security Council, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). In the letter, Pyongyang said that if South Korea “invades the territory of our country even a millimeter or perpetrates a direct provocation doing harm to our personnel’s safety and lives”, it is “legally entitled to exercise the right to self-defence specified in Article 51 of the UN Charter”.
The letter added that if South Korea violates North Korea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity despite these warnings, Seoul “will be held wholly accountable for all the ensuing consequences”, KCNA reported.
Dispute over the September 21 mine blast
The letter centres on a landmine explosion on September 21 on the southern side of the DMZ, the heavily fortified buffer zone that has divided the two Koreas since the 1953 armistice. South Korean soldiers were injured in the blast.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff later concluded that antipersonnel mines deliberately planted by North Korean troops south of the Military Demarcation Line caused the explosion, and Seoul regards this as a breach of the Armistice Agreement, according to The Korea Herald. The UN Command, which oversees the DMZ, has also said a North Korean mine across the line violated the armistice.
Pyongyang has categorically denied responsibility. In its latest letter, it called the incident a “mine explosion incident” fabricated by South Korea and described it as a “sinister obstructive move” aimed at branding its border work as a “military invasion” and delaying its fortification of the frontier.
Border fortification and warning shots
North Korea described its fortification of its southern border as “a legitimate and just exercise of its sovereignty” and a “self-defensive measure” in line with the UN Charter and international law. It also accused South Korea’s military of firing on North Korean personnel working on the fortification project, calling that a “wanton violation” of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which bars the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any state.
The letter came days after South Korea sent its own letter to the Security Council. Seoul’s ambassador to the UN, Cha Ji-hoon, wrote to the council president on October 22, saying the blast was caused by mines laid by North Korean troops, calling it a violation of the armistice and urging Pyongyang to apologise and take responsible measures, according to South Korean media.
Tensions rising along the frontier
Earlier, North Korea’s foreign ministry warned of an “immediate and powerful counteraction” if “a jackboot or a spark of fire” from South Korea went “even a millimeter” beyond the border, and said it would not negotiate with Seoul over exercising its military sovereignty within its own territory, The Korea Herald reported.
Tensions have climbed further in recent days. South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on October 25 that a North Korean self-propelled howitzer had been spotted near the border, according to GMA News, while North Korean soldiers were seen working on a border fence in Kaepung County, North Hwanghae Province.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Monday that the North’s letter appeared to repeat its existing position and sought to justify its border line marking work. Seoul has proposed dialogue with Pyongyang to defuse tensions along the border.
Source: BRICS News on X, KCNA, The Korea Herald, GMA News.
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