In a fundamental departure from decades of military-led legacy operations, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense unveiled its inaugural five-year blueprint for landmine clearance, Monday. The initiative, formally titled the First Basic Plan for Mine Action (2027–2031), marks a historic shift in how the nation handles the hazardous explosive remnants buried across its landscape — transitioning from a reactive military chore to a standardized, civilian-inclusive national project. The scale of the danger remains a stubborn legacy of 20th-century conflict. Across approximately 200 sites covering 85 square kilometers — primarily clustered near the Civilian Control Line bordering the Demilitarized Zone, which separates South Korea and North Korea, and around former rear-area air defense posts — unexploded ordinance and landmines still restrict land use and pose quiet risks to nearby residents. Historically, the South Korean military handled clearance purely through the lens of tactical necessity, deploying soldiers with traditional detectors in broad, uncoordinated sweeps that