Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok condemned what he called North Korea's violation of the armistice agreement following a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone.
Kim made the remarks at a meeting of the party's supreme council that he chaired at the National Assembly on Sept. 30, saying evidence indicated the DMZ mine blast was caused by mines North Korea had laid south of the Military Demarcation Line. He also pushed back against Kim Yo-jong, director of the general affairs department of North Korea's Workers' Party, who had dismissed the explosion as an incident staged by South Korea itself. "We criticize even more strongly the attitude of the North Korean authorities in speaking of an act staged by the South," he said.
Kim said North Korea "must apologize and correct this without fail," and also called on the South Korean military to act. "We urge countermeasures. We must review our response, which began under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, to North Korea's border fortification measures," he said. Turning to the wounded soldiers, he said the party would "spare no effort in their treatment and compensation," adding, "With an ironclad defense posture and thorough crisis management, we pledge to improve service conditions for our armed forces."
On support for local governments, Kim said that through a government-party consultation on the Future Response Fund, a reserve fund for future policy needs, and on local finances held with metropolitan mayors and provincial governors the previous day, participants had agreed on the idea of using excess semiconductor tax revenue to prepare for medium- and long-term revenue needs. "We will pool our efforts so that essential regional projects can proceed without setbacks," he said.
