Han Dong-hoon says Democratic Party defense chief 'fits North Korea's defense minister' after mine remarks

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on Tuesday renewed his criticism of National Assembly Defense Committee Chairman Jin Seong-jun of the Democratic Party of Korea over remarks the lawmaker made about a landmine explosion in the western DMZ that injured a South Korean military officer.

In a Facebook post Tuesday evening, Han took direct aim at Jin, saying the Democratic Party defense committee chairman who claimed "North Korea's landmine that severed our soldier's ankle may not have been intentional or meant to cause injury" deserves to be North Korea's defense minister, not South Korea's.

Han had made a similar attack earlier that day, asking, "Is there any purpose for a landmine — a cruel killing weapon — other than to cause injury?" and questioning whether Jin was "North Korea's defense committee chairman or the Republic of Korea's National Assembly defense committee chairman."

Jin appeared on KBS Radio's "Jeongyeok Sisa" program Tuesday, acknowledging that "North Korea bears basic responsibility" for the incident but drawing a distinction over intent. "There is a significant difference between whether North Korea deliberately planted the mine to injure our soldiers, or whether a mine planted somewhere was swept in by rain and caused this accident," he said.

Jin added that it was "somewhat difficult to conclude" the mine was planted with the intent to harm South Korean troops, and said "if North Korea's mine-laying was for defensive purposes, we need to be cautious about a military response."

The People Power Party also went on the offensive, demanding that Jin formally apologize and resign as chairman of the National Assembly Defense Committee.

Park Chung-kwon, the PPP's chief spokesperson and a North Korean defector, called on Jin to "immediately resign from the defense committee chairmanship and prostrate yourself before the injured soldiers and their families who are weeping tears of blood." PPP lawmaker Ju Jin-woo also said, "How can anyone cover for North Korea secretly planting landmines — lethal weapons — in the DMZ?" adding that Jin "could not have made such outrageous remarks if it had been his own family member who lost an ankle."