Criticism of Suspension of Military Agreement by Opposition: Which Country's Party Are They... Pursuing Compensation for Sewage Balloon Damage

Sung Il-jong "Lee Jae-myung seems like the Seoul bureau chief of Chosun Central News Agency"
Announces plan to propose 'Civil Defense Basic Act Amendment' including damage compensation regulations

The People Power Party on the 4th strongly criticized Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who described the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's decision to suspend the entire effect of the September 19 military agreement in response to North Korea's release of filth balloons as a 'political and strategic goal.'

On the same day, Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly in the morning regarding the suspension of the entire effect of the September 19 military agreement submitted to the State Council, "It is an unavoidable countermeasure against the filth balloon releases and GPS jamming attacks carried out within a week, aimed at protecting the safety of our people."

Regarding the opposition parties including the Democratic Party, he pointed out, "They are blaming the government for North Korea's filth balloon provocations and are also insisting that the suspension of the military agreement is a measure that threatens peace," adding, "It is impossible to tell which country's political party they belong to."

Regarding Lee's remark the previous day that "the problem should be resolved through dialogue with North Korea," he criticized, "No matter how much dialogue or even submission was made to the North Korean regime during the Moon Jae-in administration, North Korea did not stop provocations and instead conducted all kinds of missile tests," adding, "Even when North Korea blew up the Kaesong Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office building, they did not utter a word properly, so it is hard to suppress laughter at the talk of dialogue."

Jung Jeom-sik, chairman of the Policy Committee, also pointed out, "Lee's claim is essentially to make a gentleman's agreement with the dictatorship regime that plunges North Korean residents into extreme poverty while squandering national assets on nuclear development, and the irrational Kim Jong-un regime that blatantly violates international norms by sending filth," adding, "No citizen of the Republic of Korea agrees with Lee's claim."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Seong Il-jong, secretary-general, also criticized Lee's statement that "the South Korean filth throwing was triggered by the leaflet distribution to North Korea," saying, "He looks like the head of the Seoul bureau of the Korean Central News Agency," and "Our people suffered damage from the filth throwing, but he seems to be speaking from the perspective of the provoking North Korea." This implies that despite knowing that the leaflet ban law enacted during the Moon Jae-in administration was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and that the government cannot block leaflets voluntarily sent by civic groups, Lee is making claims similar to North Korea's.

The People Power Party also announced plans to propose an amendment to the Civil Defense Basic Act to compensate citizens who suffered property damage such as vehicle damage due to the filth balloon releases.

Floor leader Chu said, "Due to provocations such as North Korea's filth balloon releases, our citizens have suffered damages such as vehicle damage, but currently, there is no legal basis for separate compensation, so support for damage recovery cannot be provided," adding, "We will push for an amendment to the Civil Defense Basic Act to establish a legal basis for damage compensation. We urge the opposition parties to join us."