South Korea's newly appointed Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul visited two army soldiers hospitalised after a suspected land mine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the heavily fortified strip of land dividing the Korean Peninsula, on Wednesday. The officers — a lieutenant colonel and a sergeant first class — suffered ankle injuries when the blast occurred on Monday while they were clearing a route for a UN Command inspection of North Korean border-hardening activities, including suspected mine-laying on the southern side of the MDL (Military Demarcation Line, the border running through the centre of the DMZ). Kang, calling the soldiers "true heroes," pledged full government support for their recovery and vowed a thorough investigation, warning that Seoul would not hesitate to respond to North Korean provocations.