Woo Sang-ho: "Rescuing the Shot Public Official Is Impossible, Not a God, How Could He Fly"

Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the confirmation hearing of Sang-hyuk Han, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, held on July 20 at the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Amid opposition parties' claims that "our military should have rescued the official" regarding the shooting incident of a North Korean Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries official, Rep. Woo Sang-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea drew a line, calling it an "impossible task."

On the 28th of last month, Rep. Woo said on his YouTube channel 'Woo Sang-ho TV' regarding the recent shooting incident of the North Korean official, "If you ask why we didn't do the impossible, it doesn't lead to reflection but rather to 'Could you have done it?'"

Rep. Woo stated, "The conservative opposition asks why we didn't rescue (the official), but that means we should have sent our special forces into North Korean territory to rescue him," adding, "We are not gods; how could we pinpoint the coordinates of someone drifting there and fly toward the North Korean military patrol boats?"

He continued, "It is difficult to uncover the full truth, but it is a fact that this person crossed into northern territory, and we knew this through signal interception," and criticized, "It is a complicated incident. It did not happen in our territorial waters, and criticizing us for not rescuing him in the open sea is criticism for the sake of criticism."

Regarding the host's comment that there is an opinion that North Korea should have been contacted once our official was known missing, he said, "How can I say this? It was not only us who received the report late; North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un and the North Korean military leadership also heard about it after the patrol boat commander shot and then burned the floating object."

Rep. Woo also emphasized that the opposition figures' critical voices surrounding this incident are "excessively childish."

Furthermore, he argued, "Hating North Korea and wanting to eliminate war on the Korean Peninsula are different things," and stated, "Diplomatic and security strategy is to proceed peacefully even with the disliked party (North Korea)."

He expressed his position, saying, "While criticizing the tragedy that occurred on the scene as it is, I believe it is right to accept the North Korean leader's willingness to quickly manage the situation and his apology."

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