Opposition lawmakers over the weekend accused the Lee Jae Myung administration and military authorities of deliberately delaying an investigation into two suspected land mine explosions in the Demilitarized Zone, as South Korean and United Nations Command personnel began preparations for an on-site probe five days after the blast.
The allegations came as South Korean and UNC personnel conducted a joint on-site investigation in the DMZ on Sunday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The team had entered the DMZ a day earlier to secure an access route and assess operational conditions in preparation for the investigation.
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Saturday alleged that the South Korean military rejected an initial UNC request for swift access to the site after the Sept. 21 explosions, which injured three South Korean service members, while main opposition People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok claimed Sunday that the government had intentionally held up the investigation.
Han said the UNC commander had ordered a prompt investigation on the day of the accident and that officials from the UNC Military Armistice Commission visited the Army’s 25th Infantry Division the following day.
“The UNC Military Armistice Commission asked our military to provide relevant materials and body-camera footage, allow interviews with the injured personnel and grant access to the site, but our military rejected the requests,” Han said.
“Because of the South Korean military’s opposition, the two sides ultimately agreed to conduct a joint investigation on the 29th, after the Chuseok holiday,” he claimed.
Han further alleged that the military had initially had no plans to conduct an on-site investigation before Tuesday and that the schedule was moved forward as public scrutiny mounted.
“As public suspicion and anger mounted, the joint investigation was moved up to the 27th,” Han said Saturday, adding that he understood the full on-site investigation would take place Sunday.
Jang went further on Sunday, alleging that the delay may have been intended to prevent evidence pointing to North Korean involvement from being uncovered.
“If President Lee Jae Myung deliberately delayed the on-site investigation, that would clearly constitute an act benefiting the enemy,” Jang said at a press conference.
Jang claimed there was a “very high possibility” that the explosions involved a North Korean wooden-box mine recently planted after North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line.
“Despite the need for a swift response at the highest appropriate level, the military did not even begin preparatory work for a full investigation until five days after the explosions,” he said.
“It rained in the meantime, so the evidence may no longer remain intact,” Jang said. “President Lee and his administration want evidence pointing to North Korean involvement to disappear.”
As of Sunday afternoon, the military had yet to determine whether North Korea was responsible for the suspected mine explosions, nor had it established that the investigation was intentionally delayed.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that South Korean and UNC personnel had jointly entered the DMZ to secure an access route and assess conditions ahead of the investigation. The team consisted of more than 20 personnel, including members of a JCS task force headed by the JCS vice chairman, officials from the UNC Military Armistice Commission, investigators and operational troops. Some service members who were present when the explosions occurred also volunteered to participate.
The operation came five days after two suspected mine explosions occurred near the MDL in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in an area overseen by the Army’s 25th Infantry Division.
The explosions occurred at around 10:50 a.m. Sept. 21 while South Korean troops were using mine detectors to clear a search route to support a UNC inspection of terrain changes near the MDL.
Three service members were injured, two of them seriously, including the commander of a reconnaissance battalion.
The JCS said the team assessed the safety of the access route and checked surveillance and communications systems as part of preparations for the investigation.
It also released about 40 seconds of footage showing personnel moving in single file and clearing their way through vegetation while securing the route.
The JCS said the military had been preparing for a “thorough” joint investigation with the UNC while ensuring the safety of personnel involved and pledged to investigate the cause of the explosions and disclose its findings to the public.
The military’s handling of the incident has faced growing scrutiny over the time taken to examine the scene and its limited disclosure of details surrounding the explosions.
Critics have questioned why authorities did not immediately inspect the site and why the military has yet to disclose whether the suspected mine was planted by South or North Korea.
The response has also been contrasted with the 2015 North Korean wooden-box mine incident, when the military recovered mine fragments from the scene on the day of the explosion.
Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said Tuesday that concerns about personnel who experienced the blasts were among the reasons an immediate return to the site was difficult.
The controversy has also triggered a partisan dispute over how the National Assembly should scrutinize the military’s handling of the incident.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers on the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee plan to visit the military unit involved on Monday, arguing that hearing directly from commanders and troops would allow lawmakers to better assess the circumstances surrounding the accident.
National Defense Committee Chair Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the Democratic Party is expected to be among the lawmakers visiting the area to review the investigation's progress, military readiness and measures aimed at preventing similar accidents.
Rep. Kim Byung-joo, the Democratic Party’s ranking member on the committee, urged People Power Party lawmakers to join the visit and accused Han of disparaging the military with his allegations.
“Let’s stop using wounded service members as fuel for political confrontation,” Kim said, calling for the questions surrounding the incident to be examined through both the field visit and the parliamentary committee.
The People Power Party has rejected the proposed visit as a “show,” arguing that lawmakers would not be able to enter the actual explosion site and could instead burden troops carrying out border security operations.
People Power Party lawmakers have called for a plenary meeting of the National Defense Committee, demanding that the defense minister and JCS chair appear before lawmakers to explain what the military knew before the accident, what measures it took afterward, and why the on-site investigation did not take place sooner.
Meanwhile, a civic group filed a criminal complaint Saturday against Lee and eight senior national security and military officials, accusing them of offenses including abuse of authority and dereliction of duty over their handling of the incident.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
