Assembly Panel Condemns North Korea Over DMZ Mine Blasts

South Korea’s parliamentary defense committee adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning North Korea over recent land mine explosions near the inter-Korean border that injured three South Korean soldiers.

The resolution, led by the ruling Democratic Party, characterized the blasts as a North Korean provocation and said they violated the Armistice Agreement that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Its passage at the committee level allows the measure to advance to a vote in a plenary session of the National Assembly.

Lawmakers also urged the government to provide medical treatment and other support to the injured soldiers. The resolution called for close coordination with the United Nations Command to present the facts surrounding the incident to the international community.

The vote followed weeks of disagreement between the Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party over the resolution’s wording and scope. The parties reached a compromise during a subcommittee meeting before the full committee session: the ruling party accepted language describing the explosions as a provocation, while the opposition dropped a demand that the government consider suspending humanitarian assistance to North Korea.

That compromise did not resolve a separate dispute over how South Korea’s military handled the incident. The People Power Party sought language calling for a parliamentary investigation into allegations that the military was slow to investigate the explosions. Its lawmakers walked out when the resolution was put to a vote after the parties failed to agree on that proposal.

Opposition lawmaker Lim Jong-deuk argued that condemning North Korea without examining why the incident happened would leave important questions unanswered. Democratic Party lawmakers rejected combining the issues, saying allegations about possible military negligence should not be included in a resolution focused on North Korea’s actions.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won said claims concerning the military’s prevention efforts and investigative delays were inconsistent with the resolution’s purpose. Another ruling party lawmaker, Min Hong-chul, said those allegations could instead be examined through a parliamentary audit or another separate process.

The committee action reflects broad agreement on formally condemning the explosions but also exposes continuing partisan conflict over accountability within South Korea. The next legislative step would be consideration by the full National Assembly, where lawmakers would decide whether to adopt the resolution as a chamber-wide position.