'Five days since the accident, still no forensic examination — a scheme to bury evidence of North Korea's involvement'
The People Power Party has stepped up its offensive over a suspected mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, accusing the Lee Jae Myung administration of deliberately dragging its feet on the investigation to avoid upsetting Pyongyang.
PPP Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik wrote on Facebook on Saturday that President Lee had once vowed that soldiers would never again be treated as expendable — "called the nation's sons when needed, 'your sons' when wounded, and 'who are you?' when dead" — yet the Defense Ministry and the military were doing exactly that to the troops who lost their feet in the DMZ mine blast.
Jeong went on to say that "we already remember someone who was out playing golf while treating a Navy soldier who went missing and died at sea in July as 'who are you?'" and said Lee's gap between words and actions was nothing new.
Jeong also called on the government to "swiftly and clearly announce who is responsible for the mine explosion, based on the full facts."
PPP Chief Spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement that the Lee administration was "still delaying even an on-site investigation, hiding behind the deceitful excuse that it is approaching carefully because of the danger." He said the slow response amounted to waiting for evidence to disappear and traces of North Korea's provocation to be buried, calling it "an obvious scheme to cover up North Korea's involvement."
Park added that it was "cowardly and irresponsible" to stay silent out of deference to North Korea even as South Korean soldiers bled, and demanded to know "how many more of our soldiers' lives must be sacrificed in exchange for kowtowing to Kim Jong-un."
Five-term lawmaker Yun Sang-hyun wrote on social media asking where the resolve had gone that Lee, as opposition leader, had shown in demanding strict accountability over the death of Marine Cpl. Chae.
Lawmaker Bae Jun-young also posted on social media that five days had passed since soldiers had their feet severed by a mine, yet no forensic examination of the scene had taken place. He questioned whether the delay was connected to President Lee's UN speech on Wednesday (local time), suggesting the administration may have feared that confirming North Korea's culpability would undermine Lee's call at the UN for easing sanctions on the North.
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon wrote on Facebook demanding that the government reveal who had ordered the rejection of the UN Command's request for an immediate on-site investigation. "If it is such a dangerous 'hell' that no one can get near for over a week," Han said, "then who sent our soldiers into that hell with no plan?"
yuni@heraldcorp.com
