“Just like catching a rat in Ukraine”·“God has forsaken”... ruling and opposition parties battle over ‘repatriation of North Korean prisoners’ (comprehensive 2nd report)

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Soo-yoon = On the 6th, the ruling and opposition parties fought over the government's response to the disclosure of the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war from Ukraine and the mine explosion incident in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Regarding the issue of repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, when the People Power Party criticized the government for violating a non-disclosure agreement and demanding an apology from Ukraine for unilaterally making it public, the Democratic Party of Korea and others defended the government's position.

Representative Lee Ki-heon of the Democratic Party of Korea mentioned that President Volodymyr Zelensky broke the non-disclosure agreement between the two countries that Ukraine first requested and unilaterally announced it at the UN General Assembly, and argued, "It is a betrayal of national trust. If there is no apology, an ambassador should be summoned."

Rep. Hong Ki-won, a former diplomat from the same party, turned his attention to the opposition party, saying, "Ukraine has made a big mistake twice, but I cannot understand why they are attacking our government, and why we are attacking Ukraine for raising such an issue. This attack has gone too far."

On the other hand, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who was making his National Assembly inspection debut, asked Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, "Why can't you make a noise when North Korea's Kim Yo-jong is talking, but you only chase Ukraine like a rat? Is North Korea the main enemy or Ukraine the main enemy?"

Then, Minister Cho countered, saying, "I will refuse to answer as long as there are expressions such as 'catching rats'," and a lawmaker pressed again, saying, "Why are you being strong only in Ukraine and not being strong on North Korea?"

Song Seok-joon, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the People Power Party, mentioned Chung Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and said, "This is not diplomacy. I have a lot of things I want to say harshly to former Legislative and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chung Cheong-rae, but at the Foreign Exchange Committee meeting, I respect him with the utmost courtesy and even praise him," adding, "Even if President Zelenskyy was rude, shouldn't he handle it well with sophisticated diplomatic skills?"

The ruling and opposition parties also expressed differing opinions on the government's response to North Korea, which planted land mines in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Rep. Kwon Young-se of the People's Power Party, who served as the Minister of Unification, said, "Immediately after the wooden box mine incident in 2015, I sent a letter to the Chairman of the UN Security Council to clarify North Korea's responsibility for violating the armistice agreement." He added, "It's already been two weeks since (the mine explosion), and if the review has not yet been completed, does that mean they will not actually send it?"

Rep. Kim Geon of the same party, who used to be a diplomat, also pointed out, "When President Kim Dae-jung was pursuing the Sunshine Policy, there was the First Battle of Yeonpyeong, and we responded resolutely to North Korea's provocations at that time. Responding resolutely to North Korea's provocations is also an essential element in leading North Korea to dialogue in the future."

Rep. Park Chung-kwon, a North Korean defector, criticized the military's landmine removal operation as a "foolish measure" and claimed, "Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young is trying to send a large number of medical devices to Kangdong County in Pyongyang, North Korea. It is an act of betrayal that is the same as providing logistical support to North Korea. If (Minister Cho) did not know this, he was incompetent, and if he did it even after knowing it, he was participating in the act of betrayal."

On the other hand, Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-sik, a former speaker of the National Assembly in the first half of the year, said, "Clearly holding North Korea accountable and preventing the spread of military tension are not conflicting issues. The government must consistently pursue prevention of recurrence and accidental conflict."

He also suggested, “We need to organize the policy direction of promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula by sorting out excessive claims that can cause great damage to border area residents, such as loudspeaker broadcasts and anti-North Korea leaflets, etc.”

From the beginning of the Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the issue of adopting a resolution condemning North Korea's landmine provocations and calling for sanctions against North Korea.

In particular, the reactions of the ruling and opposition parties were mixed when North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement around 7 p.m. on this day, pointing out the mine removal operation announced by the South Korean military and threatening, "If even 1 mm of our territory is violated, North Korea's border forces will take immediate and strong countermeasures."

Representative Kim Dae-sik of the People Power Party raised his voice, saying, "In a situation where North Korea is raising the level of threat, the National Assembly's response should not be limited to discussing the text. The Democratic Party should participate in finalizing the discussion on the text of the resolution (sanctions against North Korea) today."

In response to this, Rep. Jeong Cheong-rae of the Democratic Party countered, "The roles of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Unification are different. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for the Ministry of National Defense to handle such matters? I hope that the secretariat will discuss more carefully whether it is appropriate to do so through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Unification Committee)."

There was also a war of nerves over the issue of selecting witnesses for the National Assembly audit, and there were shouts and shouts as the Democratic Party pointed out that Chairman Song Seok-joon of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee was spending too much time directly questioning Minister Cho.

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties unanimously called for a sophisticated response from the government regarding investment projects in the United States, such as the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development project. The government's process of transferring $2.4 billion as the first investment to the United States on the 1st was not appropriate.

Representative Jeong Cheong-rae of the Democratic Party criticized, saying, "President Trump made the announcement on September 30th and sent the remittance on October 1st. Then, this part should have been reviewed by the Steering Committee (Investment Committee under the Korea-US Investment Act) at least before September 29th."

Rep. Jeong criticized, "The first investment violated the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Act. The first step, the first action, the first button of the legal process established by us and passed by the National Assembly was put in incorrectly," and criticized, "The responsible ministry is too lacking in detail and is too complacent."

Representative Kim Dae-sik of the People Power Party said, “Article 5, Paragraph 1, Item 4 of the Special Act on Investment in the United States stipulates that the investment decision and the amount of execution are subject to deliberation and resolution by the steering committee. However, it has not yet been reported to the Finance and Economy Committee or the Trade, Industry and Energy Committee, etc.” and asked, “It is the first investment, so can it be done like this?”

When Rep. Kim Geon pointed out the shortcomings in the negotiation process for investment in the United States, Minister Cho responded, "If I explain the entire process of making sausages, how will you eat them? I hope you understand that way."