Several explosions along the border between North Korea and China injured dozens of North Korean soldiers while they were working to bury landmines. These North Korean soldiers reportedly were assigned to landmine duty without proper and adequate training. This is the first time in the history of two brotherly communist countries, China and North Korea to build landmines to seal off the border and prevent North Koreans from fleeing to China. Since summer, Pyongyang has initiated a series of aggressive measures to block access to the 880- mile-long border, which used to be a conduit for trade, smuggling, and escape route for North Koreans to seek work in China or to defect to South Korea. By the Supreme order, the frontier guard corps with special forces, and border guards are to shoot anyone within a kilometer of the border regardless of their reason for being there, among other strict measures to prevent citizens’ contact with foreigners during the pandemic. Since January the border has been closed under Covid-19 prevention measures which increases hardships for impoverished North Korean citizens. However, it is speculated that the above severe measures must have failed still, and thus, burial of explosives and landmines are being built urgently without time for proper training given to soldiers that resulted in accidents and explosions that injured and ultimately killed some.