[Anchor]

During the parliamentary audit of the Ministry of National Defense, Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul assessed that North Korea was flustered, pointing out that it took Pyongyang a full day after the South Korean military announced its final investigation results on the landmine explosion to release a Foreign Ministry statement. The People Power Party criticized the military, questioning whether landmine removal could be considered a resolute response when it has been confirmed that hundreds of North Korean landmines are buried south of the Military Demarcation Line.

Defense correspondent Kim Tae-hoon reports.

[Reporter]

Two weeks after the landmine explosion occurred on the western front, the South Korean military announced its final investigation finding that the mine had been laid by North Korean troops. The following day, on October 6, North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning of a "strong response."

At yesterday's parliamentary audit, Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul offered this assessment.

[Kang Shin-chul / Minister of National Defense: Regarding the fact that they released a position after about a day, I assess that they, too, must have been quite flustered by our response....]

About a year ago, on September 23 of last year, the South Korean military estimated the sites of the incident to be "areas where North Korean troops laid mines" using satellites and other intelligence. Minister Kang stated that he believes several hundred North Korean mines are buried across the entire region south of the Military Demarcation Line.

Democratic Party lawmakers leveled sharp criticism, arguing that North Korea's "border fortification project" began back in 2024, yet the Yoon Suk-yeol administration took no action at the time.

People Power Party lawmakers countered that North Korean forces did not advance south of the Military Demarcation Line in 2024, and challenged the military's "mine-clearing operation," asking, "Can this truly be called a resolute measure?"

[Lim Jong-deuk / People Power Party Lawmaker: Responded resolutely? Is this a resolute response? Minister, is that what you think?]

[Kang Shin-chul / Minister of National Defense: Yes, that is correct.]

The government's handling of the issue also came under fire during the parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Unification.

[Han Dong-hoon / Independent Lawmaker: What is the reason you cannot describe this as an attack?]

[Chung Dong-young / Minister of Unification: My position is that we must eliminate the root problem.]

[Park Choong-kwon / People Power Party Lawmaker: Do you consider this kind of moronic response to be appropriate?]

[Chung Dong-young / Minister of Unification: Rather than a moronic response, I believe we did what needed to be done.]

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also stated that while it is true his ministry has differing views from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding whether to enforce cyber sanctions against North Korea, it does not constitute a clash or friction.

(Video by Kim Hyun-sang | Video Editing by Lee Seung-hee)