By Kang Seung-woo
A parcel containing a suspicious white powder and a threatening letter was delivered Tuesday to Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin in what the ministry said was an act of terrorism.
Later in the day, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the unidentified powder turned out to be flour.
The package was delivered days after hundreds of leaflets criticizing the minister were found Friday.
“In the parcel addressed to the defense minister from an unconfirmed sender, the ministry found an unidentified powder and a threatening letter,” MND Spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.
According to the spokesman, mail and parcels are delivered twice a day to the ministry building and they undergo x-rays and a metal detector scan before visual examination, but there is also an inspection for chemical, biological and radiological content.
“The parcel was filtered by visual inspection,” Kim said.
The MND added that the letter was the same as the leaflets, which were distributed near the ministry early Friday morning and criticized Kim for his hard-line stance towards North Korea.
Pyongyang has often lashed out at fiery comments by the minister, who has ordered border troops to react forcefully and decisively to all North Korean military provocations. Recently, the North’s Korean Central News Agency released a film clip as part of propaganda that showed trained military German shepherd dogs mauling an effigy of the defense minister.
However, police announced that the leaflets did not appear linked to the North.
When the unidentified powder was found, the MND described the parcel delivery as “an attempted terrorism act” against the minister and formed an emergency team to analyze components of the white powder and trace the sender.
Following the threats, the military has stepped up security for Kim and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jung Seung-jo, as well as toughened screening procedures for the ministry building, officials said.
In order to find out who is behind the incidents, the police and military are jointly investigating the two incidents. The National Intelligence Service is also involved in efforts to prevent a recurrence.
Since North Korea’s third nuclear test on Feb. 12, the Korean Peninsula has seen tensions running exceptionally high due to the communist country’s fiery rhetoric, triggered by expanded U.N. sanctions.
The regime of Kim Jong-un scrapped the armistice agreement, cut military hotlines with the South, and suspended operations of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the last-remaining symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, earlier this month.