Preliminary DMZ Survey Conducted After Landmine Incident: "Deliberate Delay" vs. "Unpatriotic Behavior"

The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission deployed around 20 service members to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the western front this afternoon (Sept. 26).

This was to conduct a preliminary survey ahead of an on-site investigation into the landmine explosion.

An operational environment assessment was reportedly conducted to ensure safety, including securing access routes for the troops who will be dispatched to the site of the incident.

However, it was reported that they did not approach the actual site of the accident and only entered areas where safety had been confirmed.

Based on the preliminary survey, which lasted for more than two hours, the military plans to soon finalize a schedule for an on-site investigation to determine whether the landmine explosion was the work of North Korean forces.

Meanwhile, a political dispute erupted over the timing of the on-site investigation.

The People Power Party claimed that the Lee Jae-myung administration is deliberately delaying the on-site investigation because it is overly conscious of North Korea's reaction.

[Park Seong-hoon / Senior Spokesperson, People Power Party: "Even at this very moment, the Lee Jae-myung administration is delaying even the on-site investigation, offering only deceptive excuses that it is approaching cautiously because it is dangerous."]

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sig urged, "The government treats wounded soldiers like someone else's sons," adding, "Quickly announce who is responsible for the landmine explosion based on the five Ws and one H."

In contrast, the Democratic Party denounced the People Power Party's offensive, calling it "unpatriotic behavior that exploits service members' lives and national security for political strife."

[Kim Byung-joo / Ranking Member, National Assembly Defense Committee (Democratic Party): "Telling troops to go back into that extremely dangerous death trap without sufficient preparation is not uncovering the truth. It is the same as telling them to create another victim."]

However, some within the Democratic Party have also criticized the government's response, with five-term lawmaker Park Jie-won posting on social media that "if our soldiers were in an accident, only by revealing the facts truthfully will the public understand."

(Reported by Go Jeong-hyeon | Video by Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.