Seven out of 10 South Koreans said the government and military did not respond appropriately to a North Korean mine explosion in the demilitarized zone on the western front, according to a survey released on the 1st. About 90% of respondents said they were aware of the incident.
The Reform Research Institute, a think tank affiliated with the Reform Party, surveyed 855 people aged 18 and older nationwide on Sept. 30 and released the results on Oct. 1. It found that 89.8% of respondents said they knew about the mine explosion that occurred on Sept. 21.
Asked about the government and military's on-site investigation following the blast, 70.5% said the response was not appropriate. The on-site investigation took place on the 27th, six days after the incident. More than half of respondents, 55.9%, said the response was "not at all appropriate," while 14.6% said it was "generally not appropriate." A total of 26.2% said the response was appropriate, with 10.3% calling it "very appropriate" and 15.9% "generally appropriate."
Asked what the government should prioritize, 36.7% chose investigating whether the armistice agreement was violated and establishing accountability, followed by 32.3% who called for stronger military readiness and corresponding measures. Another 17.1% picked easing tensions and preventing a recurrence through inter-Korean communication, while 10.6% chose cooperation with the international community and a diplomatic response.
The institute said responses calling for an investigation into the armistice violation, accountability and stronger military readiness accounted for 69% of the total. "Public opinion favors principle-based, active efforts to establish accountability and the building of substantive security readiness, rather than staying with situation management or a dialogue-oriented approach," the institute said.
On what should be clarified first regarding the incident, 36% pointed to exactly when and how the North Korean mines were laid. That was followed by the precise type of mine that exploded and the cause of the accident at 28.3%, the appropriateness of the decision to enter a dangerous area and of safety measures for the soldiers at 20.8%, and the reason the mine was not detected during the mine-clearing process at 10.1%.
Developments have since moved further. The South Korean military and the United Nations Command said on Sept. 30 that they had confirmed one North Korean anti-personnel mine south of the military demarcation line in the DMZ. Based on that finding, the U.N. Command determined that a violation of the armistice agreement had occurred.
"For the sake of our soldiers who carry out their missions at the risk of their lives and for the safety of the public, security gaps must not be left unaddressed," said Lee Ki-in, chair of the Reform Party's emergency committee. "The government must not shield North Korea's provocative intent or be dragged along helplessly by brazen threats. It must hold the North strictly and firmly accountable for violating the armistice agreement, based on accurate data and the results of the on-site investigation."
The survey was conducted as a poll on a social issue rather than an election poll, so it was not subject to reporting requirements of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission. The institute said it designed and conducted the survey in line with standards for general political polls in areas such as sampling, weighting and margin of error. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 1.65%.
