Embassy in the U.S.: "Kang Kyung-hwa's comments about land mines in the DMZ are intended to emphasize violation of the armistice agreement"

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hong Jeong-gyu = The South Korean Embassy in the United States said that Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha's remarks during the National Assembly audit regarding the recent North Korean landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) were "not at all intended to question whether specific expressions previously expressed by our government were correct."

In a press release on the 13th (local time), the Embassy in the United States explained, "The meaning of certain expressions previously revealed by our government was to encourage and comfort the injured soldiers and their families who were seriously injured (by the landmine explosion), and the Ambassador to the United States also stated that in that respect, as a member of the people and ambassador, he is very heartbroken over the damage suffered by our military."

The 'our government's specific expression' mentioned by the Embassy in the US is interpreted as referring to President Lee Jae-myung's expression of comfort to the injured soldiers and their families by describing the incident as an "unfortunate accident" in his Armed Forces Day commemoration speech on the 1st.

In response to a question about his position on the landmine explosion at the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit the day before, Ambassador Kang responded, "I am very heartbroken as a member of the people and as an ambassador about the damage to our military."

The Embassy to the United States emphasized, "According to the final investigation results of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 5, the Ambassador made a statement to this effect while emphasizing that this explosion was caused by a mine artificially planted by the North Korean military south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which is a violation of the Armistice Agreement."

Regarding the controversy over the US's restriction of intelligence cooperation, which has emerged as a pending issue in ROK-US diplomacy, the Embassy in the US stated, "It is difficult to confirm the contents of diplomatic communication between Korea and the US and the details of intelligence cooperation between the two countries."

However, he explained, "We want to continue to advance the ROK-US alliance as an axis of our diplomacy, but there are bound to be differences of opinion between countries, and I think a process of narrowing and managing differences in opinion is necessary."

At the National Assembly inspection the day before, Ambassador Kang said at the meeting between Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the 18th of last month, "There was talk that there was a problem with intelligence cooperation," and "I don't think the problem has been fully resolved as the U.S. expects."

In his opening remarks at the Cabinet meeting held at the Blue House on this day, President Lee pointed out, "We must conduct diplomacy that protects the national interests of the Republic of Korea," and "We must avoid a submissive or soft attitude in relations between countries."

The Embassy in the United States also emphasized in relation to 'high-level communication at the White House', "The Ambassador's comments during the National Assembly inspection were made with the view that (communication) is not happening as much as he would like and that he would like it to be closer and more frequent."

The Embassy in the United States said, "The ambassador's intention was to make more efforts to satisfy his high motivation for communication between Korea and the United States, and it did not mean at all that there were difficulties in existing communication between Korea and the United States."

At the previous day's National Assembly inspection, Ambassador Kang said, "I will admit that there are limits to communication with the White House," and added, "I frequently have meetings with the White House National Security Council (NSC) and key White House officials, but the high-level consultations that I would like to have are not taking place as much as I would like, to the point where I am frustrated."

The Embassy in the United States explained, "Our government is continuing discussions on major issues while communicating closely with the U.S. administration through exchanges at all levels, including summit and high-level officials, such as the recent ROK-US summit (September 22) and foreign ministers' meeting (September 18)."

The Embassy in the United States said, "The Ambassador to the United States has been in close communication with high-ranking officials from foreign affairs and security ministries such as the NSC, State Department, and War Department, as well as economic ministries such as the Department of Commerce, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Energy," and added, "We are maintaining a close communication channel with the United States at all levels of the embassy, ​​from envoys and counselors to working-level officials."