Kim Tae-nyeon on People Power Party's Offensive: "Excessive Political Attack Insults Government and Military"

"Government and Military Respond According to Principles and Procedures in Limited Situations"
Regarding People Power Party: "They Are Trying to Exploit the Tragic Incident and Push It into a Cold War Confrontation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the opposition party's offensive regarding the shooting incident of the missing public official in the West Sea, saying it is "an insult to the government and military who tried to respond."

Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

At the floor leaders' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 29th, Floor Leader Kim said, "Our government and military responded according to principles and procedures under constrained circumstances."

He added, "The opposition is attacking us, asking why we couldn't rescue our citizen immediately, but they must be well aware that it was a very constrained situation where immediate response was impossible," and emphasized, "We had no choice but to make judgments based on uncertain intelligence. Nevertheless, accusing the government of complacency in its situation awareness and response is an excessive political offensive."

He continued, "The opposition is indiscriminately criticizing President Moon Jae-in without any basis," and stated, "They even bring up the Sewol ferry disaster, which pains the nation’s heart, to frame incompetence." Floor Leader Kim emphasized, "President Moon requested accurate fact-checking from North Korea and urged a stern response in the first face-to-face report," adding, "This response led to an apology and a promise to prevent recurrence from Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea. This is a meaningful progress considering that there was no apology at all regarding the Park Wang-ja Yeonpyeong Island shelling incident."

Regarding the opposition's criticism of the timing of President Moon Jae-in's United Nations (UN) speech, he pointed out, "We should not use this tragic incident to push the inter-Korean relationship into a Cold War confrontation," and criticized, "The People Power Party has fully revealed its Cold War nature after the incident occurred."

Floor Leader Kim said, "They are insisting that President Moon's UN speech, which was recorded a week before the incident and sent three days prior, should have been revised," and emphasized, "Past conservative administrations cut off dialogue and pressured North Korea, but it led to a brink-of-war crisis. The way to prevent tragedies caused by the deterioration of inter-Korean relations is to promptly implement peace on the Korean Peninsula."

He added, "What the National Assembly should do is to work hard for fact-finding and prevention of recurrence," and said, "The Democratic Party and the government proposed a joint investigation and practical measures for prevention of recurrence, and also established a special committee within the party," urging, "We earnestly request the opposition to stop futile political strife and join in finding the National Assembly’s role for the safety and lives of the people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.