National Assembly defense committee condemns North Korea over DMZ mine blasts
South Korea's defense committee called the demilitarized zone explosions that injured three soldiers a North Korean provocation, though opposition lawmakers walked out over a proposed probe.
South Korean lawmakers meet to review a resolution condemning North Korea over recent land mine explosions near the inter-Korean border, in the National Assembly in western Seoul, on Oct. 14.YONHAP
A parliamentary committee on Wednesday passed a resolution led by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to condemn North Korea over recent land mine explosions near the inter-Korean border that left three South Korean soldiers injured.
The National Assembly's defense committee adopted the resolution, calling the incident a “provocation” that violated the Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.
In the resolution, lawmakers also called on the government to provide treatment and support measures for the injured soldiers, while working closely with the United Nations Command to present facts regarding the incident to the international community.
Lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) walked out of the meeting in protest as the resolution was put to a vote. With its passage by the defense committee, the resolution can now be referred to the assembly plenary session for a vote.
For weeks, the DP and the PPP had been at odds over what to include in the resolution, particularly whether to explicitly describe the blasts as an act of provocation by the North.
During a subcommittee meeting held before the full defense committee session, the rival parties agreed to characterize it as a provocation as long demanded by the PPP, while the main opposition party agreed to drop from the resolution its call on the government to consider suspending humanitarian assistance to the North.
Lt. Gen. Kwon Dae-won, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announces the final findings of the joint on-site investigation task force into the Sept. 21 land mine blast in the demilitarized zone at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Oct. 5.YONHAP
They, however, failed to narrow their differences over the PPP's proposal to call for a parliamentary probe into allegations surrounding the military's delay in investigating the explosions.
“Refusing to include anything about investigating why the incident happened is like saying 'North Korea is at fault but we will stop at condemning the provocation,” PPP Rep. Lim Jong-deuk said at the meeting.
The DP argued that raising allegations against the South Korean military in a resolution aimed at condemning the North would be contradictory.
“It makes no sense to include allegations that our military failed to prevent the provocation and delays in the investigation in a resolution condemning North Korea's land mine provocation,” DP Rep. Park Sun-won said.
Another DP member, Rep. Min Hong-chul, echoed Park's stance, saying allegations over the South Korean military's alleged negligence should be addressed separately through a parliamentary audit or other means.
