Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Republic of Korea—South Korea—has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It continues to insist on the military necessity of antipersonnel mines, while acknowledging their negative humanitarian impact.

On 3 December 2012, South Korea abstained from voting on UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 67/32 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it has in previous years. South Korea has stated for many years that the security situation on the Korean Peninsula prohibits it from acceding to the treaty.[1]

South Korea has never sent an observer delegation to a meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, including in 2012. Its last attendance at an intersessional Standing Committee meeting was 2008. However, South Korea did attend the Bangkok Symposium on Enhancing Cooperation & Assistance in June 2013 in Bangkok.

In April 2011, Prince Mired Raad Al Hussein, the Special Envoy on Universalization for the Mine Ban Treaty, visited South Korea where he met with the Deputy Minister for Policy of the Ministry of National Defense, the Deputy Minister of Multilateral and Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Chief of the High Court of the Korean Armed Forces to explore ways that South Korea may wish to engage in the work of the treaty.[2]

Laws proposing compensation for civilian mine victims within the country and to allow for mine clearance by civilian organizations, pending before the National Assembly in 2012, did not pass prior to dissolution of the assembly and national elections.[3] The Korean Campaign to Ban Landmines / Peace Sharing Association (KCBL/PSA) has been championing the act for compensation for civilian landmine victims. Both acts were resubmitted to the new National Assembly in January 2013.

In June 2013, Jong-soo Kim, a civilian landmine victim, and Jai-kook Cho, the Coordinator of KCBL/PSA, made presentations to the National Assembly during a public hearing regarding the Act for Compensation for Civilian Mine Victims. Representatives of the military and the government legal services branch also made presentations regarding the proposed act. As of 9 September, the Act for Compensation for Civilian Mine Victims was still pending in the Committee on National Defense within the National Assembly. Despite widespread support among legislators, the Ministry of Law and Justice opposed the Act due to the retroactive character of the legislation, which conflicts with the existing general national compensation law. As a result, the Office of the Prime Minister has launched an investigation into the situation of civilian mine victims in order to make a compromise with the Ministry of Law and Justice on the proposed act.

As of 9 September, the draft of the Act on Demining Business by Private Organizations was also pending in the Committee on National Defense in the National Assembly. The draft was submitted to the National Assembly by the Ministry of National Defense in its former session and by a parliamentarian in the current session. A hearing on the act is scheduled for November 2013. The Act on Demining Business by Private Organizations is expected to be influenced by the debating process of the draft of the Act for Compensation for Civilian Mine Victims.[4]

In May 2013, KCBL/PSA organized a two-day exhibition at the Gangwon Provincial Administration Office, presenting the situation of mine victims within the province and calling on the national assembly to pass a compensation act for victims. The provincial governor, assembly members, and officials attended the exhibition. In March 2013, KCBL/PSA organized a one-month exhibition held at the Palais de Seoul gallery which included 153 works of art created by 20 artists, sculptors, and photographers on the theme of “peace sharing for civilian landmine victims.” In April 2013, KCBL/PSA held a two-day exhibition in the main lobby of the National Assembly. The exhibition focused attention on the need for the proposed Act for Compensation for Civilian Mine Victims, which is currently before the National Assembly for consideration.[5]

South Korea is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. On 30 March 2012, South Korea submitted its annual CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report.[6]

In March 2012, ICBL Youth Ambassador Song Kosal urged South Korean authorities to join the Mine Ban Treaty during his visit to South Korea to receive the 2012 Tji Hak-soon Justice and Peace Award.[7]

Use, production, and transfer

South Korea informed the Monitor that it did not engage in any new use of antipersonnel mines, including replacing mines in existing minefields.[8] South Korea has previously maintained that it has not used mines in many years.

South Korea reported to the Monitor that it did not use, import, export, or purchase antipersonnel mines from foreign companies during 2011 or early 2012.[9]

However, production of mines has continued. In 2011, a private South Korean company, Hanwha Corporation, produced 4,000 KM74 antipersonnel mines.[10] In 2007, the Hanwha Corporation produced about 10,000 self-destructing antipersonnel mines, as well as an unknown number of Claymore directional fragmentation mines.[11]

In both 2012 and 2011, Foreign Ministry officials stated that the government commissioned the development of remotely-controlled mines which will replace antipersonnel mines and that the newly developed mines will meet the requirements set out in the Amended Protocol II to the CCW.[12]

South Korea has stated on several occasions that it has “faithfully enforced an indefinite extension of the moratorium on the export of AP [antipersonnel] mines since 1997.”[13]

Stockpiling

In 2012, South Korean officials declined to reveal to the Monitor the size of South Korea’s stockpile and the types of mines stockpiled.[14] In 2011, South Korean officials stated that information regarding its stockpile was classified.[15] However, South Korea said in 2006 and 2008 that its stockpile consisted of 407,800 antipersonnel mines.[16] In the past, the government stated that it held a stockpile of about 2 million antipersonnel mines.[17]

South Korea told the Monitor in 2012 that it did not destroy any stockpiled mines during 2011.[18] However, South Korea reported in 2011 that it had destroyed 18,464 antipersonnel mines (5,132 M14; 12,086 M16; and 1,246 M18) in the ammunition units where they were stored during 2010. The date(s) of the destruction and reason for this action were not specified.[19]

The United States (US) military keeps a substantial number of remotely-delivered, self-destructing antipersonnel mines in South Korea. In 2005, the South Korean government reported that the US held 40,000 GATOR, 10,000 Volcano, and an unknown number of MOPMS mines.[20]

For many years, the US military also stockpiled about 1.1 million M14 and M16 non-self-destructing antipersonnel mines for use in any future war in Korea, with about half the total kept in South Korea and half in the continental US.[21] Most of the US-owned mines located in South Korea have been part of the more extensive War Reserve Stocks for Allies, Korea (WRSA-K). On 30 December 2005, the US enacted a law authorizing the sale of items in the WRSA-K to South Korea during a three-year period, after which the WRSA-K program would be terminated, which occurred at the end of 2008.[22] In June 2009, the South Korean government told the Monitor, “AP [antipersonnel] mines were not included in the list of items for sale or transfer in the WRSA-K negotiations, and therefore, no AP-mines were bought or obtained.”[23] In June 2011, a Foreign Ministry official stated that South Korea safeguards a stockpile of antipersonnel mines that belongs to the US military on its territory as part of the WRSA-K program. These mines are planned to be gradually transferred out of South Korea.[24] In June 2012, a Foreign Ministry official stated that the antipersonnel mines are in ammunition storage within Secure Areas of the US Forces Korea.[25]

The law ending the program states that any items remaining in the WRSA-K at the time of termination “shall be removed, disposed of, or both by the Department of Defense.”[26] Moreover, US policy has prohibited the use of non-self-destructing antipersonnel mines in South Korea since 2010. According to documents released under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Monitor in 2013, the WRSA-K stockpile included 480,267 M-14 antipersonnel mines and 83,319 M-16 antipersonnel mines.[27] The US has previously destroyed all non-self-destructing mines not dedicated for potential use in Korea.

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

South Korea did not make any statements on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2012 or the first half of 2013. In 2009, an official said, “The Republic of Korea fully recognizes the need to reduce humanitarian suffering caused by cluster munitions,” but “due to the unique security situation on the Korean peninsula, my government is unable to take an active stance on the Convention on Cluster Munitions which bans the use of all cluster munitions.”[1] In December 2008, South Korea stated, “We value the intent of the [convention], but considering the current relations between the North and the South, we can’t sign it.”[2] South Korea has also described cluster munitions as legitimate weapons that are “efficient…in deterring enemy attacks.”[3]

South Korea has previously expressed support for a Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) protocol on cluster munitions “that strikes the right balance between humanitarian considerations and legitimate security needs.”[4] It is not known if South Korea is reviewing its position on joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions following the November 2011 failure of the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference to conclude the draft protocol on cluster munitions.

South Korea did not participate in any meetings of the Oslo Process that resulted in the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[5] South Korea did attend the convention’s Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008 as an observer and made a statement.

South Korea has not participated in any meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2008.

A local peace group called “Weapon Zero Team” has undertaken several actions to call on the South Korean government to ban cluster munitions.[6]

South Korea is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In April 2012, South Korea confirmed that it has not used cluster munitions.[7] It produces rockets, bombs, and projectiles containing submunitions and has licensed the production of artillery projectiles containing submunitions in Pakistan. South Korea has also exported cluster munitions. It has imported and licensed the production of cluster munitions from the United States (US). It is thought to possess a significant stockpile of cluster munitions.

Production

In 2005, the Ministry of National Defense said that “South Korea stopped production of old types of cluster munitions,” and the “cluster munitions currently in production have a high level of reliability and most are equipped with [self-destruct] mechanisms.”[8] According to a US diplomatic cable dated May 2007, a senior Ministry of National Defense official informed the US that “more than 90 percent” of South Korea’s stockpile of cluster munitions were of the non-self-destructing kind and “the cost of retrofitting them would be prohibitive.”[9] In August 2008, the Ministry of National Defense adopted a directive requiring that it only acquire cluster munitions with self-deactivation devices and a 1% or lower failure rate, and recommending “the development of alternative weapon systems which could potentially replace cluster munitions in the long run.”[10]

Two companies in South Korea, Hanwha and Poongsan, produce cluster munitions.[11] Hanwha has acknowledged that it has produced M261 Multi-Purpose Submunition rockets for the Hydra-70 air-to-ground rocket system, as well as KCBU-58B cluster bombs.[12] In April 2012, South Korea informed the Monitor that Hanwha produced 42,800 dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) extended-range (base bleed) 155mm artillery projectiles in 2011.[13]

Poongsan’s website has advertised a 155mm projectile containing 88 submunitions designated DPICM TP, and another 155mm projectile with submunitions designated DPICM K305.[14] In April 2009, Poongsan listed among its products the following two types of 155mm artillery projectiles that contain submunitions: K308 DPICM TP, containing 88 K224 submunitions, and K310 DPICM B/B, containing 49 K221 submunitions.[15]

Poongsan entered into a licensed production agreement with Pakistan Ordnance Factories in November 2004 to co-produce K310 155mm extended-range (base bleed) DPICM projectiles in Pakistan at Wah Cantonment. While the ammunition is primarily being produced for Pakistan’s army, the two firms will also co-market the projectiles to export customers.[16]

The US concluded a licensing agreement with South Korea in 2001 for production of DPICM submunitions for multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) rockets.[17]

According to the 2012 NGO report “Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions: a shared responsibility,” at least 22 Korean financial entities are involved in investments in manufacturers of cluster munitions. Hanwha receives funds from at least 16 Korean financial entities, including six US financial entities, one in the United Kingdom, and one in Switzerland. Poongsan receives investment from at least 15 Korean financial entities, including eight US financial entities, two in France, and one each in Switzerland and Singapore.[18]

Transfers

South Korea has imported a variety of cluster munitions from the US. It is known to possess M26 rockets, M26A1 extended-range rockets, and ATACMS missiles for its MLRS launchers. Between 1993 and 1999, the US provided 393 M26A1 extended-range rocket pods, 271 M26 rocket pods, 111 ATACMS-1 missiles, and 111 ATACMS missiles.[19] South Korea also stockpiles several artillery projectiles with DPICM submunitions (M483A1, M864, and M509A1) imported from the US.[20] In 2001, the US supplied South Korea with 16 each of the following cluster bombs: CBU-87, CBU-97, CBU-103, and CBU-105.[21] Jane’s Information Group lists it as possessing CBU-87 and Rockeye cluster bombs.[22]

In December 2011, Korea’s National Assembly set aside 236 billion won (US$205 million) for the procurement of some 350 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons from the US.[23] On 1 June 2012, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale of 367 CBU-105D/B Sensor Fuzed Weapons at an estimated cost of $325 million including associated parts, equipment, and logistical support. The agreement requires “a statement by the Government of the Republic of Korea that the cluster munitions and cluster munitions technology will be used only against clearly defined military targets and will not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians.”[24] While US law bans the export of nearly all US cluster munitions, it permits the export of the CBU-105 version of the Sensor Fuzed Weapon, since this variant meets a 99% submunition reliability criteria. The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans sensor-fuzed weapons.

In March 2008, Hanwha apparently exported an unknown quantity of M261 Multi-Purpose Submunition rockets (each containing nine M73 submunitions) to Pakistan.[25]

Stockpile

The current size and content of South Korea’s stockpile of cluster munitions is not known. In 2005, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense acknowledged that it “maintains stockpiles of old types of cluster munitions with a high failure rate” and stated, “[t]here are currently no plans to upgrade these holdings … Equipping old types of submunitions with [self-destruct] mechanisms is not considered feasible due to technical and financial problems.”[26] In April 2012, South Korea informed the Monitor that it had destroyed 27 cluster munitions during the previous year.[27]

Contamination and Impact

The Korean War left mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in southern Korea, and because of a security threat, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) laid barrier minefields along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating it from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north.

Mines

The DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) immediately adjoining the southern boundary of the DMZ remain among the most heavily mined areas in the world due to extensive mine-laying during the Korean War and in the 1960s, in 1978, and in 1988. In May 2006, South Korea indicated that about 970,000 mines were emplaced in the southern part of the DMZ, about 30,000 mines in the CCZ, and about 8,000 mines in 25 military sites that cover an area of about 3km² in the northern parts of Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon provinces, below the CCZ.[1]

A report by the National Defense Committee in 2010 said South Korea had about 1,100 “planned” mined areas covering 20km² and some 209 unconfirmed or suspected mined areas covering 97.82km². This latter figure was repeated in a draft bill on demining, which was submitted to Parliament in January 2010 (see below).[2]

South Korea also contends with mines displaced from military bases by rain and mudslides and from across the border in North Korea. Authorities reported around 10 mines missing from an air defense position at Seoul’s Mount Umyeon after mudslides in July 2011. Landmines and other explosives were also swept away from an ammunition depot north of Seoul, although the landmines were later reported to have been recovered.[3]

In July 2010, wooden box mines were found on South Korea’s Kanghwa Island, in the estuary of the Han river, and in the Samichon river area in Yonchon-gun, Gyeonggi province, apparently washed down from North Korea by heavy rains. A box mine caused the death of one man and injuries to another in the border town of Yeoncheon, northeast of Seoul. Parts of North Korean wooden box mines were also found on the banks of a river in Cheolwon on the South Korean side of the DMZ.[4]

Explosive remnants of war

Many parts of South Korea are also contaminated by ERW, particularly unexploded ordnance from the Korean War, although the precise extent is not known.

Mine Action Program

There is no national mine action authority or mine action center. Demining is conducted by the South Korean army, which has undertaken limited clearance of the DMZ and CCW and has concentrated mostly on demining military bases in rear areas.[5] In January 2010, the government submitted a draft bill on mine clearance to the national assembly that would allow private companies to engage in demining. The draft law stipulated clearance tasks must be requested by the government, local government, a public institution, or a landowner, while clearance must be authorized by the secretary of defense and conducted under the supervision of the army commander in charge of the area.[6] The bill was still pending before the Defense Committee of the National Assembly in March 2012.[7] In 2009, the government stated that clearance which had been planned to finish in 2009 would continue until 2015.[8]

Land Release

South Korea said it spent US$1.8 million on demining in 2011 but reported clearing less than half the amount of land and landmines cleared the previous year. It said more than 32,300 soldiers participated in mine clearance operations.[9] It also reported demining was under way on eight sites located between the CCZ and Seoul and that it expected to clear a similar amount of land in 2012 as in 2011.[10]

Troops were deployed in July 2011 to locate mines missing from an air defense position at Seoul’s Mount Umyeon after heavy rain and mudslides. Troops near the frontline with North Korea in Gyeonggi Province also reported finding 16 box mines apparently washed down from North Korea in August 2012.[11]

Mine clearance in South Korea, 2006–2011[12]

Risk Education

The government reported in 2009 that “the military holds meetings with local people to provide specific information on landmines.”[13] It said it provides two types of mine/ERW risk education (RE): one for the armed forces and the other for civilians, mainly as community liaison prior to clearance.[14] South Korean NGOs have disputed the government’s description of RE activities, which are believed to be limited to the placement of mine warning signs in the CCZ and displaying models of mines at the entrance gates to the CCZ.[15]

Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2012, the Monitor identified three new antipersonnel mine casualties in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). In the province of Gyeonggi a 74-year-old man was injured when he stepped on a mine while collecting herbs near the city of Pajoo on 21 May 2012.[1] On 31 October, two soldiers were injured while working on a construction project at the Sixth Marine Battalion base on Baekryeong Island.[2] In 2011, two mine casualties were identified in Gyeonggi province.[3]

The number of mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties is unknown, but the Korea Research Institute for Mine Clearance stated in March 2009 that there were at least 500 civilian survivors.[4] In 2009, the media reported that there were at least 1,000 civilian casualties; the Korean Campaign to Ban Landmines (KCBL) estimated there were 2,000 to 3,000 military casualties.[5] The Monitor identified 72 mine casualties between 1999 and 2012 (eight killed, 64 injured). At least 22 of these casualties were military personnel, including one American soldier injured in 2001. Figures are likely incomplete as there is no comprehensive official data on mine casualties in South Korea.[6]

Victim assistance

There have been at least 112 survivors in South Korea, though reasonable estimates indicate that the number is between 1,000 and 2,000, with both civilian and military survivors.[7]

No efforts were identified to assess the needs of mine/ERW victims in 2013. Following the mine victim survey conducted in 2011 by the Korean Peace Sharing Association (PSA) in Gangwon and Gyeonggi provinces, there were plans to conduct a similar survey in Gyeonggi province, also bordering the Demilitarized Zone. However, these plans were stalled due to the unwillingness of provincial authorities to participate until the National Assembly passes the compensation law for mine victims.[8]

Using the results of the 2011 mine victim survey, the PSA/KCBL provided basic assistance to all 64 mine victims identified with funding from CitiBank.[9] The provincial government assisted 36 survivors with follow-up surgery and other medical care.[10] The remaining 28 of the 64 survivors identified were to receive assistance in 2013.[11]

Victim assistance coordination

South Korea has no victim assistance coordination; the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs (MIHWAF) is the lead ministry responsible for persons with disabilities.[12]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

While South Korea has a national health care system, mine victims are frequently not eligible for assistance due to the fact that their disability is considered conflict-related and/or self-inflicted.[13] Soldiers injured on duty, including those injured by mines, receive free medical services and a monthly pension that depends on the degree of disability—estimated, for example, to be about US$1,000 for a partial limb amputation.[14] Civilian mine survivors can apply for government compensation through the Ministry of National Defense Special Compensation Commission, but few claims have been successful.[15]

The PSA needs assessment found that 88% of victims identified in Gangwon province (survivors and the family members of people killed by mines) did not seek compensation following the mine incident, in most cases because they were not aware that a state compensation program existed. Others did not seek compensation either because they lacked money for legal assistance or because they feared reporting their incident to the government.[16]

In 2012, the Law for Removal of Mines and Reparation for Mine Victims was introduced for consideration by the Korean National Assembly for the fourth time since 2003.[17] If approved, it would provide financial compensation to mine victims for loss of income as a result of disability or loss of life (awarded to surviving family members) and would provide subsidies for medical care for survivors.[18] KCBL successfully lobbied parliamentary members to submit the Special Support Law for Civilian Landmine Victims, which proposes to increase the application ‘grace period’ from one to three years; in January 2013 the bill was reintroduced to the parliament.[19]

In 2009, an act was adopted with the aim of preventing discrimination against persons with disabilities and providing remedies for those suffering from such discrimination.[20]

South Korea ratified the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 11 December 2008.

In 2012, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) contributed US$220,000 in mine action funding through the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action (VTF) and ITF (International Trust Fund) Enhancing Human Security. South Korea’s contributions to the VTF went towards support to Afghanistan and Lebanon. Its contributions through the ITF went to Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and the Occupied Territory of Palestine (OPT), as well as to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for regional mine action coordination in Central Asia.

In 2012, demining was conducted by the South Korean army in five unconfirmed minefields in the civilian control zone and Seoul. South Korea reported a budget of $1,185,983 in 2012 while removing 78 antipersonnel mines over 98,600m².[1] South Korea reported a budget of $1,818,181 in 2011.[2]

Contributions by recipient: 2012[3]

South Korea’s 2012 contribution was a decrease of $70,000 on its support for mine action from 2011, largely as a result of discontinuing its contribution to Libya through the VTF. Since 2009, South Korea has contributed $960,000 to mine action.

Summary of contributions: 2009–2012[4]