[Anchor]
North Korea was spotted opening coastal artillery ports in a border area today (October 27). While North Korea remains silent on the South Korean military's proposal for military talks, a heated debate broke out at a parliamentary audit over Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's remark that landmines are defensive weapons.
Reporter Noh Dong-gyu reports.
[Reporter]
This is Gogun-ri, Kaesong, North Korea, located about 2 kilometers away from Ganghwa County, Incheon.
In the middle of a coastal hill where propaganda loudspeakers directed toward South Korea are installed, North Korean coastal artillery is visible.
Even the gun barrels can be identified inside the open cave entrances.
We observed the North's coastal artillery positions for over two hours.
The gun ports remained open, and the barrels were pointed toward our side.
North Korea has exposed coastal artillery in the past as a threat during times of heightened tension.
In Gaepung County, Hwanghae Province, where three self-propelled artillery pieces were positioned prominently, personnel were seen inspecting artillery and installing wire entanglements today as well.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff drew a line, stating that the North Korean military has recently been exposing older artillery in coastal areas and that they are not new weapons.
While there has been no response from North Korea regarding the proposal for military talks, the Unification Minister's remarks concerning a landmine explosion incident came under scrutiny during the parliamentary audit.
[Chung Dong-young / Minister of Unification: Linguistically speaking, the phrase 'landmine attack' hardly holds up. Landmines are defensive weapons. Provocations have an aspect of creating tension, whereas an attack is an attack.]
Following remarks suggesting that while it was a North Korean provocation, it remains difficult to definitively establish intent, opposition lawmakers criticized the minister for giving North Korea an excuse to shift blame, and a replica landmine was even brought into the hearing room.
[Park Chung-kwon / People Power Party Lawmaker: This is a North Korean landmine. I would like to place it in front of Minister Chung Dong-young. (I decline.) How could you say regarding North Korea's landmine provocation that it is 'hard to conclude as an attack' and that it is 'for defense'?...]
[Chung Dong-young / Minister of Unification: Whether it was intentional or unintentional is a very critical matter.]
Regarding the possibility of North Korea-U.S. dialogue, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that it was an important issue when consultations were held with the U.S. Secretary of State about a month ago, explaining the U.S. stance as follows.
[Cho Hyun / Minister of Foreign Affairs: However, the U.S. stated, 'We understand, and while we will continue to communicate closely, we hope South Korea does not get too far ahead'...]
Minister Cho explained that this was in reference to South Korea's self-appointed role as a pacemaker, adding that the U.S. has also expressed gratitude for South Korea sharing intelligence and scenarios.
Video by Lee Chan-soo | Video editing by Jeong Seong-hoon
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