Casualties

In 2010, the Monitor identified three new mine casualties in South Korea. In July 2010, one man was killed and another was injured by a wooden antipersonnel mine that drifted along a river from North Korea.[1] In another incident in July 2010, a man was injured by an antipersonnel mine.[2] Both incidents happened in Gyeonggi-do province. In 2009, four casualties were identified: a civilian killed by an antipersonnel mine just below the Demilitarized Zone,[3] a man and a woman injured by an antivehicle mine, and another man injured by an antipersonnel mine.[4]

The number of mine/explosive remnants of war casualties is unknown, but the Korea Research Institute for Mine Clearance stated in March 2009 that there were at least 500 civilian survivors.[5] In 2007, the media reported that there were at least 1,000 civilian casualties and the Korean Campaign to Ban Landmines estimated there were 2,000 to 3,000 military casualties.[6] The Monitor identified 66 mine casualties between 1999 and 2010 (eight killed; 58 injured). At least 20 of these casualties were military personnel, including one American soldier injured in 2001.[7] Figures are likely incomplete as there is no comprehensive official data on mine casualties in South Korea.[8]