JCS chief-DMZ blast

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung on Tuesday visited the soldiers injured in an explosion caused by land mines planted by North Korea inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and offered his condolences, officials said.

Jin met with the soldiers wounded from the Sept. 21 mine blast and their family members at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, according to the JCS.

During the visit, he pledged to ensure that the soldiers can focus solely on their recovery, saying he would never forget their sacrifices for the nation.

Last month, the South Korean military concluded that the mine blast was caused by resin antipersonnel mines deliberately planted by Pyongyang south of the Military Demarcation Line. The blast injured three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously.

Meanwhile, Jin also visited the Army Aviation Command in Icheon, about 50 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where he inspected the operational readiness of a KUH-1M military medical evacuation helicopter that was deployed at the time of the DMZ mine blast.

The JCS chief urged troops to maintain a high level of readiness to ensure timely emergency responses and save the lives of service members and civilians, particularly in front-line and remote areas.

He also instructed troops to take early preventive measures against wildfires during the fall season, including deploying military helicopters to contain fires before they develop into large-scale blazes.

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