Hundreds of South Korean soldiers continued their search Monday for North Korean landmines along the border with the North after an explosion killed one man and seriously wounded another.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said a total of 36 North Korean mines in wooden boxes, which were apparently swept down to the South by heavy rains, have been found near rivers and islands close to the Yellow Sea border with the North since the search began Friday night.
On Monday alone, soldiers discovered 24 mines. Also, 27 empty wooden boxes have been found in those areas, a military official said, adding that
all of the retrieved mines were exploded safely.
A 48-year-old man died at the scene and another man, 25, was injured Saturday night when one of the mines exploded near a restricted border area of Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul.
At the time, the two men were carrying two wooden boxes containing the mines on their way back from fishing in the restricted area of the Imjin River that flows from the North to the South. One of the mines did not explode because its detonator was separated from the mine, military officials said.
Officials have ruled out the possibility that North Korea deliberately floated the mines, citing torrential rains that hit the country in recent weeks.
"We will continue the search in the areas until safety is ensured because mines as well as other explosives could have washed down from North Korea due to heavy rains," one official said.
The deluge had prompted the country's authorities to discharge dam water into rivers flowing to the South.
The two Koreas, which remain technically at war, are divided by the heavily armed border strewn with mines.