By Choi Ha-young
Conservatives here are bashing the military for not returning fire when North Korean sentinels opened fire at a soldier who was escaping to the South, but experts lauded the decision that avoided full-scale war.
Rep. Kim Jong-dae, a military expert-turned-lawmaker of the Justice Party, noted that rules of engagement at Panmunjeom aim at upholding peace for possible inter-Korean talks. “There, soldiers from the two Koreas are so close together, an accidental shooting could definitely lead to death for many,” Kim said in an interview Thursday.
In case of North Korea attacking in other borderline areas, the South Korean military is required to return fire according to the rules of engagement of the South Korean authority. “However the Joint Security Area (JSA) is not subject to South Korean sovereignty. It’s controlled by the United Nations Command (UNC),” Kim said.
“If the nation moves to ease the conditions for attack, Panmunjeom’s role for inter-Korean talks will be nullified. Who can start discussions in the area under the permanent risk of war?
“In cases such as the defection, South Korean soldiers are supposed to wait and see and then decide to return fire or not after securing their safety once backup forces arrive at the site,” Kim added. In line with the rules, Lt. Col. Kwon Young-hwan, who was in command, promptly ordered the soldiers to wear body armor and equip themselves with K-2 rifles.
Kim Min-seok, research fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, agreed with the lawmaker.
“If the North Korean sentinels kept firing at the defecting soldier after he crossed the military demarcation line, the South should issue a statement of protest. However, the South Korean military’s decision not to return fire was proper, because no South Koreans were injured or killed.”
The lawmaker’s claim was in response to criticism from conservative media and political parties that South Korean soldiers should have returned fire and the military’s vigilance was a “total failure.”
“The military authorities should stop shifting responsibility to the UNC and disclose the surveillance camera footage right away,” conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) spokeswoman Jun Hee-kyung said Thursday.
“A mad dog deserves beatings,” the LKP said in a statement the previous day. The conservative party harshly criticized the liberal government, calling it “Pyongyang’s spokesperson.”
After the incident, President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday revising the rules of engagement at the JSA needs to be discussed together with the UNC, so South Korean soldiers can at least fire warning shots if a bullet from the North is fired at the South.
The UNC originally planned to disclose part of the surveillance camera footage of the scene of the defection on Thursday but postponed it, saying it would fully investigate the situation first. Reportedly, North Korean soldiers accidentally crossed the MDL, which is in violation of the armistice treaty, but they retreated rapidly.
Despite the conservatives’ offensive, Kwon’s sacrifice became viral online. Kwon himself crawled to rescue the North Korean soldier who had fallen to the ground from the gunshot wounds, at risk of his own life.
In a briefing to the generals, Kwon reportedly said: “I couldn’t send the young soldiers (to rescue the North Korean soldier). I thought the chief of the UNC could lead the troops in place of me should I have been injured.