"North Korean Mine" UN Letter Seeking an Apology Still Undecided... MOFA: "Interagency Discussions Needed"

[Financial News] The government appears not to have decided whether to send a letter to the United Nations Security Council seeking to elicit an apology from North Korea over the mine blast in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
In 2015, when a North Korean wooden-box mine exploded, the Park Geun-hye administration secured an apology from North Korea by sending a letter to the president of the UN Security Council.
Responding on the 1st to reporters' questions about preparations for a letter to the UNSC, a MOFA official said, "There is still a need to further organize the issues and discuss response measures," adding, "We will consider various options after discussions among the departments handling security affairs." The official also explained, "We will carry out the necessary procedures based on various consultations among the ministries."
The previous day, the South Korean military demanded an official apology from North Korea over an incident in which South Korean service members suffered moderate to serious injuries from a North Korean mine buried south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). On the same day, the United Nations Command (UNC) concluded that North Korea had violated the Armistice Agreement, citing as evidence one North Korean mine recovered at the scene. Based on the UNC's investigation findings, MOFA can deliver a letter to the UNSC.
During the 2015 North Korean provocation involving wooden-box mines in the DMZ, the UNC officially declared that North Korea had violated the Armistice Agreement. This strengthened the legitimacy of the South Korean government's diplomatic efforts at the UN and its UNSC letter. MOFA subsequently submitted the letter to the president of the UNSC through South Korea's ambassador to the UN. It was delivered promptly, just 14 days after the mine blast.
The letter submitted by the government at the time clearly established North Korea's responsibility for the provocation, based on the findings of a joint investigation by the Ministry of National Defense's joint investigation team and the UNC. It also sought to draw the international community's attention to the incident. International pressure on North Korea through cooperation among countries later provided an important diplomatic backdrop for eliciting North Korea's expression of regret (an apology) over the provocation during high-level inter-Korean talks.
[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter