--- title: U.S. Pledges to Destroy All Landmines Outside of Korean Peninsula description: Officials cited "unique circumstances" in the Koreas that prevented acceding to a universal ban canonical: https://time.com/3421529/landmine-ban-korea/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-23T12:50:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:21:10.691Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. Pledges to Destroy All Landmines Outside of Korean Peninsula og:description: Officials cited "unique circumstances" in the Koreas that prevented acceding to a universal ban og:url: https://time.com/3421529/landmine-ban-korea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1a696b084e2f259/6986a4c2e53aba0ef84d48ec/landmines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5976 og:image:height: 3362 og:image:alt: FRANCE-HANDICAP-MINE-NGO-DEMO og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Pledges to Destroy All Landmines Outside of Korean Peninsula twitter:description: Officials cited "unique circumstances" in the Koreas that prevented acceding to a universal ban twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1a696b084e2f259/6986a4c2e53aba0ef84d48ec/landmines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Pledges to Destroy All Landmines Outside of Korean Peninsula > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ca93ea39-fac5-4dfb-8aa5-d75095deea85&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Sep 23, 2014 12:50 PM UTC  A sign reading ''Danger landmines, what is happening to those shoes'' is pictured in front of a pyramid of shoes during the annual demonstration by NGO Handicap International to denounce the use and sale of anti-personnel landmines, on Sept. 20, 2014 in Lyon, central France. A sign reading ''Danger landmines, what is happening to those shoes'' is pictured in front of a pyramid of shoes during the annual demonstration by NGO Handicap International to denounce the use and sale of anti-personnel landmines, on Sept. 20, 2014 in Lyon, central France. Jeff Pachoud—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Sep 23, 2014 12:50 PM UTC The U.S. has pledged to destroy all existing stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean peninsula, administration officials said on Monday, but stopped short of acceding to an international ban on the weaponry. The decision to destroy existing stockpiles builds on a previous commitment in June to not manufacture, acquire or do anything to replenish existing stockpiles of landmines. While administration officials reinforced their commitment to the goals of the Ottawa Convention, a 15-year-old international agreement that forbids the use or stockpiling of landmines, the U.S. did not formally join the treaty. “Even as we take these further steps, the unique circumstances on the Korean Peninsula and our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea preclude us from changing our anti-personnel landmine policy there at this time, said National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden. “We will continue our diligent efforts to pursue solutions that would be compliant with and ultimately allow us to accede to the Ottawa Convention while ensuring our ability to meet our alliance commitments to the Republic of Korea.” More than 160 countries have joined the Ottawa Convention, but the U.S. has [resisted](http://time.com/2933269/us-landmine-treaty-ottawa/) pressure from several human rights organizations to sign the treaty, citing ongoing security concerns. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3421529/landmine-ban-korea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3421529/landmine-ban-korea/"},"headline":"U.S. Pledges to Destroy All Landmines Outside of Korean Peninsula","datePublished":"2014-09-23T12:50:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:21:10.691Z","description":"Officials cited \"unique circumstances\" in the Koreas that prevented acceding to a universal ban","url":"https://time.com/3421529/landmine-ban-korea/","keywords":["Military","Foreign Policy","Human Rights","Weapons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1a696b084e2f259/6986a4c2e53aba0ef84d48ec/landmines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1a696b084e2f259/6986a4c2e53aba0ef84d48ec/landmines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-HANDICAP-MINE-NGO-DEMO","caption":"FRANCE-HANDICAP-MINE-NGO-DEMO","creditText":"Jeff Pachoud—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3421529/landmine-ban-korea/","name":"U.S. Pledges to Destroy All Landmines Outside of Korean Peninsula"}}]}] ```