North Korea on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, rejected a call by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the two Koreas to ease tensions through dialogue following a landmine blast at their border, accusing him of taking Seoul's side, state media reported.

Source: Reuters via Duke FM

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party, said Guterres took a "prejudiced and irresponsible" attitude by echoing South Korea's unilateral claim over the September blast, in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Source: Korea JoongAng Daily

"I express my regret over the fact that the top official of the UN, which regards impartiality and objectivity as its lifeline, took such a prejudiced and irresponsible attitude as echoing the ROK's unilateral and provocative sophism, contrary to the principle of strictly maintaining neutrality stipulated in the UN Charter," Kim said, using the abbreviation for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

What the UN chief actually said

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters that Guterres encouraged the two Koreas to resume dialogue, including at the military level, to avoid unintended accidents or miscalculations. At a November 5 briefing, Dujarric said Guterres was concerned about the risk of escalating tensions in the DMZ and urged restoring communication channels, including military contacts.

Kim answered that "the UN secretary-general's behaviour of echoing words of the provokers and patronising them without having proper understanding of the fact is not helpful to the detente", Reuters reported. She defended the North's border fortification work as an exercise of its right to self-defence and warned, in KCNA's account, that Guterres would share blame if South Korean actions led to another incident in the border area.

Tuesday's rebuke follows South Korea's move to take the DMZ mine blast to the UN Security Council, demanding a North Korean apology. Read: South Korea takes DMZ mine blast to the UN Security Council

A disputed blast, two incompatible accounts

The September 21 explosions, in the western sector of the DMZ south of the Military Demarcation Line, wounded three South Korean soldiers — two seriously — while they were clearing a patrol route. A joint investigation by South Korea's military and the US-led UN Command concluded the blast was caused by antipersonnel mines planted by North Korea south of the line. Pyongyang disputes that account: North Korea sent its own letter to the UN Security Council accusing the South of fabricating the incident, and South Korea in an October 22 letter asked the Council to press Pyongyang to apologise, remove the mines and prevent a recurrence. Those findings and denials are each side's stated positions, not independently settled facts.

What happens next: the exchange leaves the military hotlines and dialogue channels Guterres asked for no closer to restoration, with the Security Council holding competing letters from both Koreas. The two states remain technically at war, their 1950-53 conflict having ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.