People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday. [Newsis]
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday. [Newsis]

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said Thursday that the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone was "a joint product of the Moon Jae-in administration's dismantling of front-line guard posts and the Lee Jae Myung administration's negligence," and called for those responsible to be held accountable for what he described as "a clear act of treason."

Speaking at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, Jang said President Lee should "step down immediately if he has no intention of protecting the people from North Korea, the main enemy," according to Yonhap.

He added that if the president failed to firmly hold North Korea accountable for the mine provocation in his Armed Forces Day speech Thursday, it would amount to "confessing again to the illegal transfers to North Korea" and "admitting that he himself is a bodyguard for Kim Jong-un's sensibilities."

Jang went on to say that President Lee had yet to even utter the word "North Korea." He criticized Cheong Wa Dae for describing the president's visit to wounded soldiers Wednesday as a response to "an unexpected landmine explosion" while omitting any mention of North Korea, saying he could not help but "harbor reasonable suspicion that they are tucking their tail out of fear that North Korea might reveal the truth behind the illegal transfers."

He also took aim at the Democratic Party, saying it had been "vocal about condemning North Korea while pouring all its energy into attacking the previous administration," adding that it was hard to tell whether the party was "the ruling party of the Republic of Korea or the Yeouido branch of the Korean Workers' Party."

Jang particularly criticized Jin Seong-jun, the Democratic Party lawmaker who chairs the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, for claiming that North Korea's landmines were "defensive" and therefore did not constitute a violation of the armistice agreement. "If planting lethal weapons after crossing the boundary line counts as defensive, then what provocation, aggression or attack by North Korea would not be?" Jang said. "And yet this is the lawmaker serving as chair of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee."


husn7@heraldcorp.com