Three South Korean officers wounded in DMZ explosion

Three South Korean military officers were injured by an explosion along the Demilitarized Zone, local media reported, in an incident that may have been caused by a landmine. South Korean authorities have not yet provided a full public account as investigations get under way.

Three South Korean officers were wounded on the border with North Korea after an explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), local media reported on Tuesday. The reports said the blast may have been caused by a landmine, but gave few other immediate details.

South Korean military officials had not issued a full public statement at the time of the media reports. It was unclear from those accounts how severe the officers' injuries were or where they were being treated, and authorities said they were looking into the circumstances surrounding the blast.

The incident comes in one of the most heavily militarised and sensitive stretches of the peninsula. The DMZ, established at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, remains fortified and contains areas historically seeded with landmines, a legacy of decades of hostility between the two Koreas.

Explosions or accidental detonations along the border periodically prompt investigations and can raise tensions, particularly when details are scarce. South Korean forces typically conduct examinations and, where necessary, demining or safety operations after such incidents while coordinating internal inquiries into how they occurred.