Plan to clear land mines announced

The Defense Ministry said August 24 that it will launch its part of construction for the reconnection of the Gyeongui Railway within the demilitarized zone (DMZ) next month, deploying a total of 3,000 troops for the task. The ministry said that it will form a special committee, under which one troop corps and one army project corps will operate. The personnel will be responsible for clearing mines, maintaining security and opening roads.

The ministry initially planned to clear mines along the 12-km southern section spanning Munsan and Jangdan, which covers a total of 73,000 pyeong of land. But with plans to open an eight-lane road parallel to the tracks, the ministry decided to deploy three battalions instead of two for the job.

Clearing land mines is a six-step process in which trees and anti-personnel mines are first removed. Sprinkler vehicles are then used to ferret out undetected mines, which will be detonated by a mine squad once recovered. Low-lying anti-personnel mines are destroyed using a steel plate attached to a remodeled excavator. Antitank mines, which are buried some 50m underground, will be detected and destroyed with special equipment.

The ministry said that work will start before December, as the ground in the DMZ begins to freeze around late November or early December. The ministry also said that it will work on roadbed construction to prepare for a double-track railroad, although a single-track railroad is planned.