North Korea Opens Coastal Artillery Ports; Unification Minister Calls Landmines 'Defensive Weapons'

[Anchor]

North Korea has recently been posing a threat by exposing coastal artillery facing South Korea in the border area along the West Sea. At the parliamentary audit, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young faced heavy criticism for stating that "landmines are defensive weapons," even after a North Korean landmine detonated south of the Military Demarcation Line.

Reporter Noh Dong-gyu has the story.

[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 loudspeakers aimed at South Korea are installed, North Korean coastal artillery can be seen.

Even the gun barrel is clearly visible inside the open tunnel entrance.

We observed the North's coastal artillery position for more than two hours.

The gun port remains open, and the barrel is aimed toward the South.

North Korea has previously exposed coastal artillery as an intimidation tactic during past periods of heightened tension.

While North Korea has not responded to proposals for military talks, these remarks by the unification minister regarding the landmine explosion came under fire at the parliamentary audit.

[Chung Dong-young / Minister of Unification: "Linguistically speaking, the term 'landmine attack' is difficult to justify. Landmines are defensive weapons. Provocation has the aspect of creating tension, while an attack is an 'attack.'"]

Lawmakers from the opposition party criticized his remarks—which implied that while it was a provocation, it remains difficult to determine intentionality—arguing that it gives North Korea an excuse to deflect responsibility, and a mock landmine was even brought into the audit room.

[Park Choong-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 will decline.) How could you say regarding North Korea's landmine provocation that 'it is difficult to conclude it is an attack' and that 'it is for defense'..."]

[Chung Dong-young / Minister of Unification: "Whether it was intentional or not is a very important issue."]

Regarding the possibility of dialogue between North Korea and the United States, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun explained the U.S. position, noting that it was also an important topic when he held discussions with the U.S. Secretary of State about a month ago.

[Cho Hyun / Minister of Foreign Affairs: "However, the U.S. said, '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 referred to the pacemaker role South Korea has taken upon itself, adding that the U.S. has also expressed appreciation for South Korea sharing intelligence and scenarios.

(Video by Lee Chan-soo | Video Editing by Jung Sung-hoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.