Jin Young-seung, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited a corps headquarters responsible for the central front line on the 20th to review military readiness and ordered troops to "respond firmly if the enemy carries out further provocations using our military's legitimate measures as a pretext."
Presiding over a meeting of operational commanders attended by the commander of the Ground Operations Command and front-line corps commanders, Jin said the North's action was "a clear act of provocation and a violation of the armistice agreement, in which the enemy planted mines south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and inflicted serious injuries on our soldiers who were carrying out normal operations."
"It is unacceptable that North Korea has labeled our legitimate operational measures a provocation and shifted the blame for heightened military tension onto our military, turning the situation on its head," he said.
"Our military has responded consistently and firmly, in line with principles and standards, to armistice violations such as the enemy's incursions across the MDL, and we will continue to act without wavering," Jin said. "We will carry out operations to strengthen our initiative in the Demilitarized Zone."
He added that the military would "establish a strict chain of command and operational discipline, based on a firm resolve to complete without fail our mission of protecting the nation and its people."