NK's Hwang calls mine attack groundless

People watch television news reporting South and North Korea reached an agreement at Seoul Railway Station, Tuesday. / Yonhap

Pyongyang's regret meaningful, yet insufficient

By Jun Ji-hye

Hwang Pyong-so, North's second-in-command, called the Aug. 4 landmine explosions inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), blamed on North, a “groundless” incident Tuesday.

During his appearance on the North’s Korean Central Television, the director of the General Political Department of the (North) Korean People’s Army, said, “South Korea promised to stop its propaganda broadcasting that it unilaterally resumed after creating a groundless incident. So, we decided to lift our semi-war state.”

He made the remarks after returning to the North after completing four days of marathon talks with his South Korean counterparts.

Hwang’s remarks that avoided using the word “landmine” were seen as an apparent effort to indirectly deny the North’s provocative act, which maimed two South Korean soldiers.

The comments are also in contrast with the joint statement agreed by the two Koreas, which stated, “The North expresses regret over the landmine explosions that recently took place on the southern side of the Military Demarcation Line in the demilitarized zone, wounding soldiers from the South.”

The comments escalated the ongoing controversy further over whether the North’s expression of regret should be perceived as a proper apology.

The government said the regret stated in the statement was as good as an apology, saying that such an expression from the North was a meaningful achievement for the South Korean negotiators.

However, some critics and lawmakers say the phrase was insufficient and ambiguous as it failed to specify the perpetrator of the blasts.

National Security Office (NSO) chief Kim Kwan-jin, one of the two South delegates at the talks, told media Tuesday, “It was a very meaningful achievement that the North made an apology about the landmine explosions and vowed to make efforts to prevent a reoccurrence.”

He explained that the talks were extended as the South pursued an apology from the North.

Moon Sung-mook, a retired Army brigade general and a senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute for Strategy, backed the government, saying, “The North’s expression of regret should be seen as an apology.”

Moon, who previously served as chief of North Korean affairs at the Ministry of National Defense, added, “The subject of expressing regret was stated in the statement as North Korea. I believe this might have been the hardest part agreed by the two sides.” he said.

Some lawmakers, however, were skeptical as the statement did not clarify that the landmine explosions was an intentional provocation. They said the statement could be interpreted that the North expressed regret over South Korean soldiers who were wounded by a third party, not the North.

Skepticism was also raised that the statement failed to include the North’s promise to prevent a recurrence unlike Kim’s explanation. Reference to the Aug. 20 firing over the border was also excluded from the statement.

Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the ruling Saenuri Party said on his Twitter account, “It is regrettable that the statement only hinted at, not clarified, the North’s involvement in the explosions, and it excluded Pyongyang’s promise to punish those responsible.”

Rep. Kim Jin-tae, also from the governing party, said on his Twitter account, “There was no apology.”

Moon Jae-in, chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, criticized the NSO chief for his exaggerated media briefing.

“Kim distorted the results of the inter-Korean talks by saying the North promised to prevent a recurrence, although it actually didn’t say that according to the agreement,” he said. “A better explanation should follow.”

Meanwhile, officials stressed that there were benefits for the South because of the latest inter-Korean incident.

North Korean leader Kim Jung-un’s declaration of a semis-state of war was a chance for the South Korean military to prepare for any future conflict with the North. The South Korean military was able to detect the North deploying some 20 hovercraft landing vehicles, 50 submarines and its special forces, ministry officials said.

The two sides’ agreement to resume reunion events for separated families from the Korean War was one of the biggest achievements, considering the fact that surviving family members are all elderly, officials added.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye