North Korea tells UN that Seoul 'fabricated' landmine blast

North Korea has sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council accusing South Korea of fabricating a landmine explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.

The North Korean permanent representative to the UN wrote to the Security Council on Sunday regarding what he called the provocation committed by the Republic of Korea in groundlessly shifting the blame for the dubious 'mine explosion incident', warning that violations of the country's sovereignty could trigger self-defence.

Tensions have intensified after South Korea blamed a September 21 explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries on North Korean landmines. North Korea has rejected the accusations.

Pyongyang's UN representative alleged the landmine incident was a sinister obstructive move to brand the North as a 'military invasion', adding that South Korea's claims were a farce to evade responsibility for the ever-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea's ongoing border fortification efforts were a legitimate and just exercise of its sovereignty in strict conformity with the UN Charter, the letter states, while also criticising South Korea for violating the charter by firing warning shots at soldiers in the DMZ.

South Korea has said it fires shots to make North Korean soldiers return to the north when they cross the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that runs through the DMZ. In recent years, North Korean personnel have been building tactical roads and fences near the MDL.

Last week, the South Korean Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the president of the Security Council, casting blame on North Korea for the landmine blast and calling it a clear violation of the armistice agreement.

The United States-led UN Command also said mine placement by North Korea violated the Armistice Agreement, signed in 1953 to end hostilities in the Korean War.

Days before North Korea's letter to the UN, South Korea's Defence Ministry had proposed military talks to Pyongyang to mutually confirm the precise location of their border, in order to reduce the risk of accidental clashes.