[Anchor]

A National Assembly National Defense Committee hearing held to examine the appropriateness of the military's response to the recent incident continued late into the night. The ruling and opposition parties showed sharp differences over the timing of the military's on-site investigation, clashing on every issue, and the committee's attempt to adopt a resolution condemning North Korea ultimately fell through.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

The National Assembly's National Defense Committee attempted to adopt a resolution condemning North Korea's violation of the Armistice Agreement regarding the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the western front, but the effort fell through due to disagreements between the rival parties.

The opposition party demanded the inclusion of language to review aid to North Korea, while the ruling party refused to accept it, leading to a standoff.

[Lim Jong-deuk / People Power Party Lawmaker: There are processes where humanitarian aid to North Korea is reflected in the budget. One aspect is that we should completely stop any such assistance.]

[Kim Byung-joo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: There are currently no North Korean aid projects underway. I see this as making unreasonable demands and picking a fight.]

The National Defense Committee stated that it plans to adopt the resolution at its next meeting if an agreement is reached after reconciling the differences.

At around 8:30 p.m., lawmakers from both parties reviewed military security footage related to the landmine explosion during a closed-door session.

The body camera footage, recorded by service members deployed in operations before and after the mine explosion, reportedly contained vivid scenes of the operation as the injured were evacuated and moved to a safe zone.

The Democratic Party stated that the footage confirmed how dangerous the situation was, dismissing the opposition's claim that the military should have reentered the site immediately after the incident for an investigation as reckless rhetoric.

[Cheon Jun-ho / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I believe such irresponsible claims should never be made again.]

On the other hand, the People Power Party called for a strong countermeasure by South Korean forces.

[Han Ki-ho / People Power Party Lawmaker: If North Korea is fortifying, we should fortify too. If they laid landmines, we should lay landmines too.]

Prior to this, the ruling and opposition parties also clashed over the on-site investigation that began on September 27, trading barbs over whether it was a "delayed investigation raising suspicions of a cover-up" or "a conspiracy theory and political offensive."

In response, Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul stated that there was no cover-up.

The National Assembly National Defense Committee hearing, convened to question the appropriateness of the military's response to the landmine explosion, adjourned at around 10:50 p.m.

Meanwhile, during a Cabinet meeting, President Lee Jae-myung mentioned conducting a thorough investigation and taking necessary measures based on the findings, emphasizing—in an apparent jab at the opposition's allegations of a cover-up—that national security must not be jeopardized by stoking groundless conspiracy theories.

Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Park Seon-soo