"Will They Shoot Guns or Cannons?" Ruling Party Actively Supports Defense Ministry and Moon Jae-in

Min Hong-cheol "Military Authorities Have No Communication Means with North Korea"
Hwang Hee "Not a Situation Like Watching CCTV"
Seol Hoon "Inter-Korean Relations Could Surprisingly Improve"

Min Hong-cheol, member of the Democratic Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Regarding the killing and mutilation of the body of Lee (47), an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, North Korean military, on the 25th, Min Hongchul, chairman of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, said, "This happened in North Korean waters north of the NLL, and various intelligence reports are coming in fragments," adding, "It seems it took time (to rescue Mr. Lee) because it was very difficult to confirm the exact facts, and cooperation with the U.S. military was also necessary."

Min, who appeared on KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strongest Current Affairs' on the 25th, said in response to a question about whether swift action should have been taken on an issue involving the life of a citizen, "Since the missing person adrift is our citizen, it is true that procedures such as requesting joint rescue or cooperation from North Korea are necessary," but added, "However, currently, communication channels between our military authorities and the North Korean side are cut off."

Regarding criticism that the government did not report Mr. Lee's killing first but the media did, he said, "Intelligence managed by the military and security issues are treated as vital to the military," adding, "If we react immediately based on fragmented intelligence, the other side might completely change their system, which is a military difficulty. So, it seems the process was to be very cautious and to announce only after accurate information was confirmed."

Hwang Hee, member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yonhap News

Hwang Hee, the ruling party's secretary of the National Defense Committee, also explained in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the same day, "It seems they never expected things to turn out this way. It was not a situation where they were watching continuously like on CCTV," adding, "Since it was a continuous process of collecting and speculating intelligence, it was not a predictable situation."

Regarding criticism that President Moon should have stopped his UN speech mentioning the 'end-of-war declaration' even after learning of Mr. Lee's death, Hwang said, "I don't think there was enough time within 2-3 hours to change or revise the UN keynote speech based on that intelligence."

Assemblyman Seol Hoon also rejected suspicions that the announcement of Mr. Lee's death was delayed because of President Moon's UN speech, calling it an "unfair political attack."

He said, "(The president) had no choice but to proceed with the ongoing process, and given the situation at the UN, he could not just say let's change it." He added, "Since this incident happened north of the NLL, outside our territory, the Ministry of National Defense has no way to respond," and criticized, "It's not like they could respond together by firing rifles or artillery."

Assemblyman Seol also said, "I think the North Korean side is probably aware that they committed an excessively grave wrongdoing in this matter," adding, "If the North apologizes and says, 'We were unaware of the situation, sorry,' there is a possibility that inter-Korean relations could surprisingly improve."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party announced on the same day that it would "push for a resolution condemning North Korea at the National Assembly level."

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader, emphasized at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in the morning, "North Korea's inhumane and barbaric acts are unacceptable for any reason," adding, "The Democratic Party demands responsible measures from the North. North Korea must apologize to the citizens of the Republic of Korea and the victims and strongly demands punishment of those responsible for the incident."