Navy rejects entry request from LKP lawmakers

Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), third from right, and several LKP lawmakers talks with a Navy official in front of the Navy's 1st Fleet near the port of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, Monday. The defense minister rejected the LKP members' request to enter the military base as their visit could have negatively influenced the military, the ministry said on Sunday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is protesting the military's decision to reject a request from a group of its lawmakers to enter the base of a Navy fleet, Monday.

LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won and several other lawmakers sought to visit the Navy's 1st fleet in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, to protest the apparent mishandling of a North Korean boat that recently crossed into the South's territorial waters without being detected. But the defense ministry did not allow them to enter the compound.

On Sunday, the ministry had already declined the LKP's request to approve the entry of its “fact-finding team” on the North Korean boat, according to Rep. Baek Seung-joo of the LKP.

Citing the military's joint investigation into those divisions, the defense minister said, “The visit may negatively influence the military officers' ongoing security missions and their morale.”

“The ministry will fully cooperate with future visit requests if the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly were to make them.”

Meanwhile, the LKP has stepped up criticism of the government for the country's security loopholes after visiting Samcheok.

Na held meetings with officials of the Korea Coast Guard and fishermen in the region. “The LKP raises questions over the security loopholes of the country, its cover-up and the repatriation of two North Koreans to the North,” she was quoted as saying to Yonhap.

After meeting with those officials, Na told reporters, “I found out that the country has been facing security loopholes. Adding to the security collapse, allegations of government coverups have been found one by one. The LKP will push for a National Assembly investigation into the North Korean boat case after its fact-finding team finishes its investigation.”

Their move came after Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo made an apology Thursday over the minister's apparent security lapse and promised a thorough investigation into the case. Conservative parties have called for a thorough investigation into what happened and the resignation of Minister Jeong for failing to maintain national security.

Rep. Kim Young-woo, head of the LKP's investigation team on the North's boat, accompanied Na to Samcheok. He also joined in the criticism. “The country cannot be protected if the military is getting worried about Cheong Wa Dae's reactions while Cheong Wa Dae is getting worried about the North's reactions. National defense is systematically collapsing.”