'In 2015 North Korea box-mine incident, broadcasts resumed immediately'
'Must show that provocation carries a price'
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said Monday that if North Korea is confirmed to be behind a mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, the government should immediately restore anti-North Korea loudspeakers it had dismantled.
Writing on his Facebook page that day, Ahn said South Korean soldiers were seriously injured in the DMZ mine blast and called on the government to hold the North accountable through action, not words, if a joint investigation confirms Pyongyang's responsibility.
Ahn also pressed the government, questioning whether it still has the means and the will to respond to North Korean provocations. "The government must make clear the principle that provocation will carry a price," he said.
"Only then is dialogue possible," he added. "If it cannot do that, it will be thoroughly ignored — and that itself is the disarmament of our national security."
Ahn drew a comparison with the Park Geun-hye administration's response to North Korea's wooden box mine incident in 2015, noting that South Korean forces immediately resumed loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North. "As a result, high-level inter-Korean talks were held and an expression of regret was drawn from North Korea," he said.
He then said President Lee Jae Myung had the loudspeakers removed immediately upon taking office, while North Korea left its own southward-facing speakers in place. "We alone have sealed off an effective means of response," Ahn added.
Ahn urged the government to conduct a thorough investigation as quickly as possible, and said that if North Korean mines are confirmed to have injured South Korean soldiers, reinstalling the loudspeakers should be the first step considered. "President Lee should look not to North Korea's preferences, but to the safety of the South Korean people and our soldiers," he said.
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