Kim: "Are You Trying to Send Us into a Minefield?" vs. Han: "You’re Delaying the Investigation and Damaging Evidence" ... Clash Over Whether to Investigate the DMZ Explosion During the Holiday

[Financial News]  The war of words between Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Byung-joo and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon over an investigation into the site of a suspected mine explosion in the DMZ on the western front is intensifying.
Kim Byung-joo, a former Army general, criticized Han Dong-hoon on Facebook on the 25th, saying, "Please, if you don't know, just shut your mouth," after Han had repeatedly called for an on-site investigation. Han immediately hit back with a strongly worded response.
Han posted on Facebook the same day, saying, "The Democratic Party says it will stubbornly wait until after the Chuseok holiday to investigate the site of the mine explosion. Kim Byung-joo, the Democratic Party's 'shitty general' who is staging a one-person protest in front of the Supreme Court of Korea rather than the Ministry of National Defense—by 'shitty general,' I mean people like you, not our military—says that the area where the mine exploded is 'a dangerous place, so the investigation must not be sped up.'"
He continued, "If Kim Byung-joo is right, should the people who sent our troops into such a dangerous death trap and caused them to have their ankles severed be investigated by a special prosecutor and all sent to prison, as in the case involving Marine Corporal Chae?"
Han again stressed the urgency of the on-site investigation and launched a fierce attack on the Democratic Party and Kim Byung-joo. "Did the United Nations Command call for an immediate on-site investigation because it did not know the area was dangerous?" he asked. "If the rain makes the evidence disappear, will you take responsibility? If North Korea tampers with the evidence while you drag your feet, can you stop it?" He then urged, "Whether it is Kim Byung-joo or anyone in the Democratic Party, answer me."
Earlier, on the first day of the Chuseok holiday, the 24th, Han held a one-person protest in front of the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, Seoul, holding a sign that read, 'Investigate the mine explosion after the holiday.' He called for an immediate on-site investigation, arguing that evidence could be lost if the probe were delayed.
Kim responded by pointing to the dangers of entering the site, arguing, "Soldiers' lives matter more than speed. Saying that investigators should be sent in separately, even under these circumstances, is exactly like the mindset of old political prosecutors who would say, 'Catch the culprit even if you have to manipulate the facts without a shred of compassion.'"
Meanwhile, on the 21st, soldiers conducting search-route clearance operations in the DMZ on the western front were injured in a suspected mine explosion. The search battalion commander, who was trying to rescue an injured staff sergeant, was also hurt in a second explosion and is receiving treatment.



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