▲ People Power Party Floor Leader Chung Jeom-sik speaks during a meeting on parliamentary audit measures at the National Assembly on Oct. 6.
People Power Party Floor Leader Chung Jeom-sik said on Tuesday (Oct. 6), "A Ministry of National Defense audit confirmed that cases of standing guard with 'unloaded rifles' occurred across all frontline corps of our military, yet the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ground Operations Command reportedly had no knowledge of this," adding, "Both a parliamentary investigation and a special counsel probe are necessary."
Chung emphasized this during a meeting on parliamentary audit measures held at the National Assembly, stating, "This is something that cannot happen in a military where reporting to higher echelons is routine. We must uncover who ultimately handed down the order."
He criticized, "South Korea's national security is melting down right now. The Lee Jae-myung administration is proving for itself what nonsense its 'self-reliant defense' is," adding, "It is not self-reliant defense, but self-destructive defense."
Regarding the military's announcement of its final findings on North Korea's DMZ landmine provocation, Chung also remarked, "In a clear violation of the armistice agreement, our soldiers fell victim to North Korea's cowardly aggression. Yet the military merely demanded an apology and mine clearance from North Korea," adding, "More than two weeks have passed since the provocation by our primary enemy, but far from taking even low-intensity measures such as installing loudspeakers toward North Korea, they are begging them to step back."
He further pointed out, "During a National Security Council (NSC) meeting on Oct. 1 to discuss countermeasures against North Korea's landmine provocation, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun proposed independent sanctions against North Korea's illicit cyber activities, but Unification Minister Chung Dong-young reportedly raised his voice, asking why cyber sanctions with no direct link to the landmine incident were being pursued," adding, "Criminal acts such as North Korea's illicit hacking and cryptocurrency theft should naturally be sanctioned even in ordinary times, yet Minister Chung opposed even that."
He then demanded, "Is he really the Republic of Korea's Minister of Unification, or the head of the United Front Department of North Korea's Workers' Party?" adding, "Minister Chung is not qualified to be a minister, let alone a citizen. Step down immediately."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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