Dozens of North Korean land mines wash ashore in South Korea, killing one man an

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Dozens of North Korean land mines wash ashore in South Korea, killing one man

and injuring another

BY Meena Hartenstein

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, August 1st 2010, 11:44 AM

A deadly menace washed up on the shores of South Korea this weekend: land mines

from North Korea, still packed with explosives.

Two men fishing on Saturday found two of the mines, packaged in small wooden

boxes, and tried to carry them home, The Associated Press reports.

One of the men was killed immediately when the land mine detonated, and the

other suffered serious injuries and has been hospitalized.

Though North and South Korea have been in a ceasefire for over 50 years, land

mines from the 1950-1953 Korean War are still scattered along the border.

Since Saturday, 35 mines have been discovered in South Korea, apparently washed

ashore by torrential rain in the North.

" There have been heavy downpours recently in North Korea, and it appears that

the landmines buried on the North Korean side have drifted south, " an Army

official told Korean news agency Yonhap. " We are conducting a thorough search

along all streams that connect with North Korea. "

Technically, the AP reports, the two nations are still at war, since the Korean

War " ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. "

Earlier this month, North Korea threatened a physical strike against its

Southern neighbor, warning that it would respond with " powerful nuclear

deterrence " if South Korea conducted friendly naval drills with the U.S.