South Korea's military said the North Korean military is pushing ahead with laying landmines and building barriers along the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), despite the recent downpours and mine explosions.

The assessment by Seoul's defense ministry on Thursday was included in a policy briefing document submitted to the National Assembly.

Last month, the ministry said there had been multiple casualties during the monthslong work along the DMZ since April due to some ten mine explosions and hypothermia.

The ministry also announced on Thursday that North Korea is preparing for another test launch of a military spy satellite, after a previous attempt in late May ended in a failure.

Pyongyang has test-fired a new hypersonic missile and a super-large multiple rocket launcher with warhead weight of four-point-five tons this year, and conducted eight rounds of ballistic missile and six rounds of cruise missile firings.