The liberal Lee Jae Myung administration is facing pressure over its failure to immediately launch an onsite probe in the demilitarized zone to identify the cause of unidentified explosions that caused injury of three South Korean military officers.
Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, chair of the main opposition People Power Party, said on his Facebook Saturday that a rain in the area Friday would have led to a loss of key evidence that a North Korean-made landmine had caused back-to-back explosions in the fortified borderland on Monday.
"As it rained, it is unlikely that any measures were taken to preserve the scene," said Jang, who has long suspected that a North Korean wooden box mine was the likely cause of the incident.
"We are seeing an apparent 'destruction of evidence,'" added Jang.
Jang also said that Seoul's silence in response to calls for a swift onsite probe originates from the liberal administration's motivation not to "make (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un uncomfortable."
"By any chance, if the authorities announce that North Korea was not the cause of the incident, the entire nation will rise up in protest," Jang also said.
Independent right-wing lawmaker Rep. Han Dong-hoon staged a solo protest on Saturday. He earlier urged the Lee administration Saturday to clarify who rejected the United Nations Command's request to launch an immediate onsite probe after the explosion.
He added that the South Korean military's stance to take preparatory measures ahead of the onsite probe after the long Chuseok holiday, which started Thursday, is also problematic.
Han has previously claimed Friday that the heavy rain "significantly increased the chances that the evidence had been washed away."
"Does Seoul really expect the public to believe the Cheong Wa Dae’s claims that there is no conspiracy or cover-up, when it deliberately allowed evidence to be destroyed amid the downpour?" Han said on his Facebook Friday.
"Does the Lee Jae Myung administration fear only Kim Jong-un while treating his people with contempt?"
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea's lawmakers denied such claims that the administration was deliberately delaying the onsite probe.
Rep. Kim Byung-joo of the Democratic Party, a four-star general-turned-lawmaker, claimed that the remaining risk of explosion has hampered Seoul's decision to launch the onsite probe.
Therefore, the right-wing's claim to speed up the onsite probe "would rather put soldiers' lives in jeopardy," according to Kim, who claimed soldiers who shed blood on the front lines are turning into "a source of political infighting."
"The People Power Party criticizes the government for sending soldiers in dangerous zones, and at the same time demands that our troops be sent into that very zone," Kim said. "Demanding a troop dispatch to the same area without adequate preparation is not a call for uncovering the truth. It will end up bringing about more casualties in the name of finding the truth."
Regarding the People Power Party's claim that Seoul's inaction for six days stand in contrast with its launch of onsite probe in two days back in what turned out to be North Korea's landmine provocation in 2015, Kim said that the party neglects the fact that the incident 11 years back occurred in a zone that was clearly in control of South Korean military, and this year's incident took place in a zone closer to the military demarcation zone.
Kim also claimed that South Korea had already secured evidence by collecting debris from injured officers and sending it to the National Forensic Service.
Later on Saturday, People Power Party Rep. Lim Jong-deuk refuted Kim's claims.
According to Lim, what a nation is supposed to do is to carry out a swift onsite probe using all available national capabilities, if it really cared about the safety of its troops.
Also, analyzing debris should be conducted separately from investigating who and how the landmine was set up in the zone. Moreover, there is no reason for South Korea to need more than two days if it had done so in two days more than a decade ago, according to Lim.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
