Opposition calls on Lee administration to take a tough line on the “DMZ landmine” incident: “Retaliation must be as forceful as in 2015”

[Financial News] Voices are growing within the People Power Party calling for a firm response from the Lee Jae-myung administration to the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Party members argue that North Korea’s apology was secured through a tough response following the wooden-box mine incident in August 2015, including the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea, North Korea’s artillery provocation, and South Korea’s retaliatory fire. They are therefore pressing President Lee Jae-myung to retaliate forcefully.
The People Power Party research group Policy 2830 held a forum titled “North Korea’s Mine Provocations: 2015 and 2026” at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building on the 13th. The aim was to draw lessons from the 2015 wooden-box mine incident under the Park Geun-hye administration and consider how to respond to the recent mine explosion. Speakers at the forum included former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee, who held that post at the time, and Rep. Kim Ki-woong, who was then head of the Inter-Korean Talks Headquarters.
The People Power Party maintains that the DMZ landmine explosion should be labeled a “provocation,” not an “accident,” and met with forceful retaliation. Rep. Park Hyeong-soo, the lead lawmaker of Policy 2830, criticized the government, asking, “Is this a Hong Gil-dong government that can’t call a provocation a provocation?” Rep. Kang Sun-young, who has a military background, argued, “We must establish a posture that can deter provocations through forceful retaliation, to the point that they think, ‘If we provoke again, we’ll die.’”
People Power Party lawmakers believe that the firm stance taken in 2015 by then-President Park Geun-hye, Defense Minister Han Min-koo, and Kim Kwan-jin, head of the presidential office’s National Security Office, helped resolve the wooden-box mine incident. After the mine explosion, South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea; North Korea then fired artillery, and the Park administration responded with retaliatory fire, bringing tensions to a peak. The party argues that inter-Korean negotiations were possible because of this tit-for-tat standoff. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee said, “In 2015, inter-Korean relations deteriorated out of control, and I thought war was about to break out,” adding, “We got an apology because we didn’t back down and maintained a tough response to the very end.”
The People Power Party maintains that President Lee Jae-myung should also take a tough line, as the Park administration did, including by resuming loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi also suggested, “Whatever the North Korea policy, the military’s role does not change, and the standards for national security must not change either. If the government pursues a pro-North Korea policy, it should respond more forcefully to North Korea’s actions and back that policy with strength.”
[email protected] Lee Hae-ram Reporter