On the 14th, the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, led by the ruling party, adopted a resolution condemning North Korean provocations in connection with the mine explosion incident in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
At the general meeting on this day, the National Defense Commission passed a resolution to condemn North Korea's landmine provocation in the area south of the Military Demarcation Line.
The resolution defines this incident as "a provocation that directly undermines the Armistice Agreement and threatens the lives and safety of our soldiers" and demands that North Korean authorities investigate the truth, punish those responsible, and prepare measures to prevent recurrence.
It also included a call to inform the international community of the facts through close cooperation with the United Nations Command and to urge the government to provide treatment, recovery and support for injured soldiers.
On this day, the ruling and opposition parties held a legal review subcommittee prior to the general meeting and agreed to use provocative language, which was a contentious issue, and not to include content on the suspension of aid to North Korea.
However, as People Power Party lawmakers insisted that the resolution be included at the National Assembly level regarding the suspicion of delay in the investigation into landmine provocations, the resolution was not passed at the billing subcommittee level and was passed on to discussion at the plenary session.
Rep. Lim Jong-deuk of the People Power Party, a member of the opposition party, pointed out at the meeting, "The fact that we will not even include content asking why this happened is an argument that 'North Korea did something wrong, but we will end by condemning the provocation.'" He added, "If we do that, we will not be able to receive an apology from North Korea and measures to prevent recurrence."
Rep. Seong Il-jong of the same party also argued, "The public is doubting whether the military can be inspected through an investigation and respond properly if the National Assembly does not step in," and added, "It is right to issue a resolution as per the resolution and conduct an investigation in parallel to make the military more alert."
On the other hand, Rep. Park Seon-won of the Democratic Party of Korea countered, saying, "It makes no sense to include responsibility for our military's neglect of provocations and delay in the investigation in a resolution condemning North Korea's landmine provocations," adding, "This is a contradiction in terms."
Rep. Min Hong-cheol of the same party argued, “There has been no investigation into whether the military neglected the provocation, and it is unclear whether the investigation was delayed.” He added, “It must be confirmed internally through the National Administration or other procedures.”
Jin Seong-jun, chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic Party, attempted to adopt a resolution through a vote when the ruling and opposition parties could not reach an agreement, and People Power Party lawmakers left in protest.
Meanwhile, the National Defense Commission decided to call Shin Sang-kyun, a member of the Global Defense Research Forum, as a witness for the government audit in relation to the integration of military academies, and CEO Shin Ik-hyun in relation to bribery charges at LIG Defense & Aerospace.
