Party says opposition is misrepresenting military's handling of DMZ blast probe
National Assembly should help find cause of accident, not push troops into danger
![A Surion helicopter moves over the southern limit line of the demilitarized zone on the western front in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Several Army soldiers were seriously injured Thursday in what is believed to have been a land mine explosion in a nearby section of the DMZ, and military authorities are investigating the cause of the accident. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/25/rcv.YNA.20260922.PYH2026092217540006000_P1.jpg)
The Democratic Party of Korea on Friday pushed back against opposition attacks over a suspected land mine explosion in the demilitarized zone, saying the People Power Party should "stop using soldiers' sacrifice as a tool of political warfare."
Democratic Party spokesperson Shin Hyun-young said at a briefing that the PPP had accused the government of deliberately delaying an on-site investigation, invoking terms such as "destruction of evidence," "acts benefiting the enemy" and even "impeachment." "They have gone too far," Shin said. "They are turning the lives and safety of our soldiers into an instrument of political combat."
Shin added that the PPP was pressuring the military to "get into the site immediately" by falsely implying it was dragging its feet for political reasons. "Before the shock and trauma of watching fellow soldiers suffer serious injuries has even begun to fade, is it really in the interest of our troops to rush them into a dangerous area without adequate safety measures in place?" she said.
Shin referenced the 2015 wooden box land mine provocation, calling it "a clear act of provocation by North Korean forces who deliberately planted mines with intent," and cautioned that the two incidents "should not be compared simplistically." She said the current accident occurred while troops were opening a new search route toward the MDL to support a UN Command on-site investigation, and that soldiers' safety during any probe could not be guaranteed without a thorough risk assessment and safety plan for the area.
Shin said what the National Assembly should be doing now is not "pushing soldiers toward a dangerous area" but rather supporting the treatment and recovery of the injured and helping the military establish safety conditions so it can determine the cause of the accident without any lingering questions. "We urge the People Power Party to immediately stop using the safety of our soldiers as a means of political strife," she said.
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