DMZ mine incident: Park Sun-won alleges Yoo Yong-won's involvement; Yoo calls it a 'political attack'

Democratic Party of Korea Supreme Council member Park Sun-won on Monday raised allegations that People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won was involved in the decision-making process behind a military patrol-route clearing operation in the demilitarized zone that ended in a North Korean mine explosion, saying "there are deeply suspicious aspects" to how the operation was ordered. Yoo immediately rebuffed the claim, calling it a "forced political attack."

Speaking at a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, Park urged authorities to clarify who sent soldiers into such a dangerous area and why. "We must establish who made the judgment to carry out such a reckless and careless operation and hold them accountable," he said.

Park argued that on Aug. 31, the commander of the 25th Division volunteered to take on the reconnaissance mission, replacing the 21st Division that had originally been named — and that Yoo had visited the 25th Division before that change was made.

"Yoo visited the 25th Division on Aug. 28 and spoke with the division commander," Park said. He added that Yoo publicly disclosed during a parliamentary interpellation session on Sept. 10 that North Korean minefields in the 25th Division's area extended to within 15 meters south of the MDL.

Park then said that on Sept. 21, soldiers were clearing a path to investigate that very danger zone when one of them triggered a mine 10 meters south of the MDL. "They went into the exact location the division commander had briefed Yoo on, and that is where the accident happened," he claimed.

"The 25th Division commander pushed them in knowing full well it was a minefield," Park said. He called for a military investigation into how Yoo's visit to the 25th Division, the commander's decision to volunteer for the mission, the public disclosure of the minefield location in the National Assembly and the subsequent mine explosion were all connected.

Yoo issued a statement pushing back against the allegations. "The soldiers were not sent into a location I was briefed on — rather, I was briefed on a location that had already been scheduled for investigation," he said. He added that he used that briefing as the basis for urging the prime minister and the vice minister of national defense to take swift action during the Sept. 10 parliamentary interpellation session.

Yoo said the circumstances surrounding the reported change in which unit was assigned to the mission should be verified through the chain of command's orders, reports and UN Command consultation records. "Listing a visit date and an accident date does not establish a causal relationship," he said.

Yoo criticized Park for "connecting legitimate legislative activity to the cause of the accident while ignoring the context of how the briefing came about," calling it "a textbook case of a political attack — using flawed logic to go after both the military and the opposition party."

He also noted that the military had already identified the possibility of mines in the area on Sept. 23, 2025, and reported the finding to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the defense minister the following day. "This was a danger the military leadership was aware of long before my visit," Yoo said, turning the question back on Park: "As a member of the National Assembly Defense Committee, was it wrong of me to inform the public of that danger and urge the government to act?"