Contamination and Impact

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) left by the Korean War and from emplacing barrier minefields as a security measure along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating it from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

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, 1978, and 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 about 3km² of the northern parts of Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do 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]

In July 2010, wooden box mines were found on South Korea’s Kanghwa Island, in the estuary of the Han River and the Samichon River area in Yonchon-gun, Gyeonggi-do province. There mines had apparently been washed down from North Korea by heavy rains.[3]

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 CCZ, but has concentrated mostly on demining military bases in rear areas.[4] 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 that clearance tasks must be requested by the national 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.[5] The bill was still pending before the Defense Committee of the National Assembly in March 2011.[6]

In 2009, Korea stated that clearance originally planned to finish in 2009 would continue until 2015.[7] The same year, government plans to create an “eco-peace belt” in the southern part of the DMZ and a 500km-long bike trail just below the DMZ were reported in the media. If approved, work was expected to begin in 2011 and to involve some mine clearance.[8]

Land Release

South Korea reported in October 2010 that it cleared 107,000m² in the 12 months prior to the end of August 2010,[9] marginally more than in 2009 but less than the 140,000m² the military had planned to clear in 2010.[10] In a follow-up CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in late April 2011, however, South Korea reported that a further 57,190m² was cleared in the last three months of 2010, resulting in destruction of 216 mines. The report stated clearance was under way at eight sites between Seoul and the CCZ.[11]

In addition to area clearance, the Army mobilized hundreds of soldiers on three separate occasions after 1 August 2010 to search for wooden box mines that had apparently become displaced by heavy rains in North Korea and floated to South Korea (see above).[12] The Army’s search operation recovered 158 wooden boxes but 105 were empty and only 53 contained explosives, all of which were destroyed.[13]

Mine clearance in South Korea, 2006–2010[14]

* 1 September 2009 through 31 August 2010.

Other Risk Reduction Measures

The government reported in 2009 that “the military holds meetings with local people to provide specific information on landmines.”[15] 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.[16] South Korean NGOs dispute 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.[17]

The Army distributed a flyer called “Public Information about Lost North Korean Mines” in the CCZ in August 2010 in response to the danger posed by mines displaced from North Korea by floods. It advised people not to pick up suspicious devices but to report them to a military center by telephone. Local government authorities also mobilized employees to patrol the banks of the Imjin River, and broadcast warnings to the public through loudspeakers.[18]