'DMZ Landmine Explosion and Repatriation of North Korean Soldiers': Controversy Over Excessive Secrecy... Public's Right to Know 'Clashes'

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung's proposal at the United Nations for four-party talks among South Korea, North Korea, the United States and China to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula has come under increasing pressure amid a suspected North Korean landmine explosion in the western sector and controversy over the undisclosed repatriation of North Korean soldiers.
President Lee delivered his UN speech as planned, despite the emergence of issues involving North Korea that raised concerns about ideological conflict. However, concerns have grown that inter-Korean relations could rapidly deteriorate if the landmine that left three South Korean military officers moderately to seriously injured is found to have been planted by North Korea. North Korea could also object to the repatriation to South Korea of North Korean prisoners of war from Ukraine.
According to political sources on the 27th, the timing and method of the on-site investigation into the suspected landmine explosion that occurred on the 21st in the western sector of the DMZ have become the focus of controversy. The opposition is urging the military to disclose the circumstances of the accident and its investigation plans more clearly and promptly to the public, given the possibility of North Korean involvement.
However, the Ministry of National Defense continued to provide vague answers immediately after the suspected North Korean landmine explosion, fueling suspicions and distrust. Moreover, concerns deepened as the joint investigation by the UNC and South Korean military authorities into the DMZ landmine explosion was delayed. 
The South Korean military reportedly completed a joint operation with the UNC on the 26th, the sixth day after the accident, to secure access routes at the site and inspect the operational environment. By contrast, during North Korea's 2015 provocation involving a wooden-box landmine, evidence was collected at the site on the day of the accident, and a joint investigation with the UNC was conducted two days later.
People Power Party floor leader Chung Jeom-sik strongly criticized the government's response, saying, "Our soldier's ankle was severed, yet instead of mounting a proper response, they even postponed the investigation until after Chuseok." Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said at a one-person protest in front of the Ministry of National Defense, "The Lee Jae Myung administration and the Ministry of National Defense are responding slowly because they are looking over their shoulders at the Kim Jong Un regime," adding, "I will hold them accountable to the end, together with the public, for why the investigation was delayed."
The area where the accident occurred is known to be a blind spot in the South Korean military's surveillance systems. Concerns were even raised that North Korean soldiers may have approached the site during the Chuseok holiday and tampered with evidence of the provocation.
Military authorities are explaining that they are proceeding cautiously out of concern over a secondary accident. Immediately after the incident, they sent the protective clothing, mine-protective overshoes and other equipment worn by the injured soldiers, traces of explosives, and fragments removed during surgery to the National Forensic Service for detailed analysis. Authorities believe the results could determine whether the explosive was a North Korean landmine.
However, if the National Forensic Service makes a final determination that it was a North Korean landmine, the level of a strong response toward North Korea is expected to be decided, further intensifying the security-related political conflict between the ruling and opposition parties.
Meanwhile, a dispute over the truth of an undisclosed agreement concerning the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war between Ukraine and South Korea is continuing.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed during his speech at the UN General Assembly on the 23rd local time that two North Korean prisoners of war had been repatriated to South Korea, sparking controversy.  President Lee immediately expressed regret, saying, "I do not know what circumstances led the Ukrainian side to disclose it in violation of a confidential agreement, but it is deeply regrettable." However, officials at the Ukrainian presidential office flatly rejected the claim, saying, "There was no such (confidential) agreement. That is not true," leading to a diplomatic dispute as well.  This effectively raised questions about working-level officials at the Foreign Ministry and the reporting chain to the Blue House.  
The Ukrainian side emphasized the legitimacy of disclosing the information, saying, "The issue of prisoners of war is sensitive, and the Ukrainian people have the right to know what is happening regarding prisoners of war." The South Korean government has not issued any further rebuttal.
The government has also been criticized for fueling unnecessary suspicions and distrust by repeating calls for caution without providing sufficient explanations. The opposition and conservative groups are criticizing the government's excessive secrecy over the DMZ landmine and North Korean prisoner-of-war issues, arguing that it violates the public's right to know and creates the impression that the government is looking over its shoulder at North Korea. The Democratic Party of Korea called on the People Power Party to stop its political wrangling, describing it as "a treasonous act of focusing solely on political calculations while having no regard whatsoever for national security."

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