Political Blame Game Erupts Between Democrats and PPP Over DMZ Mine Accident
On the 30th, the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party spoke with one voice in denouncing North Korea over the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), but each blamed the other for the cause of the incident — the Democrats citing the former Yoon Suk-yeol government's inadequate response, and the PPP pointing to the Lee Jae-myung government's policy of submission toward the North.
The ruling Democratic Party traced the cause of the accident to the previous government's response, arguing that the Yoon Suk-yeol government failed to properly respond to what North Korea has called its 'border fortification' work. At the party's Supreme Council meeting that day, Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said, "We denounce North Korea's violation of the armistice agreement," adding, "There must be a full review of the overall response to the North's so-called 'borderization,' which began in early 2024."
Democratic Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Defense Committee held a press conference, urging that "North Korea must stop its groundless claims and immediately apologize to our injured service members." Kim Byeong-ju, the party's chief deputy whip on the committee, pointed out that "the Yoon government did nothing more than fire warning shots in response to North Korea's borderization work," saying it "neither assessed the actual state of landmine placements nor established measures to protect our troops."
Jeong Jeong-sik, the People Power Party's floor leader, said at a press briefing with reporters that "while the government was begging for a flimsy scrap-of-paper peace deal, North Korea violated the armistice agreement by laying landmines," and that "the government must first declare an end to its policy of capitulating to the North."
As the two parties traded accusations, North Korea denied the incident itself. Kim Yo-jong, the Workers' Party's department director, dismissed the accident as a "self-staged farce by Seoul," claiming that "our soldiers have never once crossed the border line," and threatened "immediate and merciless retaliation" if the South Korean military opens live fire.
