President Lee Jae-myung said on the 1st, Armed Forces Day, that he felt "heartbroken" over the soldiers wounded in a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone. But he did not point to North Korea's responsibility for laying the mines, describing the incident only as an "unforeseen accident." He offered no separate message even though military authorities and the United Nations Command had identified North Korea as the party that planted the mines. The People Power Party launched a broadside against Lee, accusing him of "laying a minefield in national security."
In his address at the 78th Armed Forces Day ceremony held at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province, Lee said, "Even now, my heart aches when I think of our soldiers who were wounded in an unforeseen accident in the Demilitarized Zone not long ago." He added, "I wish them a swift recovery and extend my deepest condolences to their families."
Military authorities identified mines laid by North Korea as the cause of the explosion and the UNC determined the act violated the armistice agreement, but Lee did not directly raise North Korea's responsibility. With interim findings on the blast already released, Lee had been expected to deliver a message condemning North Korea in his Armed Forces Day address, but he went no further than offering words of comfort to the wounded soldiers — a lower-key response than anticipated. Instead, he emphasized "a peace in which there is no need to fight," putting more weight on dialogue and trust than on condemnation. "The South and the North must find a path to winning together for peace on the Korean Peninsula and build trust," Lee said, stressing that "our government will consistently pursue practical steps to lower military tensions between the two Koreas." Addressing North Korea, he said, "We hope and urge that the North now join us on the path of restoring trust and reviving severed dialogue."
The remarks are read as signaling that, despite rising military tensions from the recent mine blast and North Korea's denial of responsibility, Lee will not roll back his existing policy of easing tensions and restoring dialogue with Pyongyang. With the possibility of North Korea-U.S. talks being arranged around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit set for next month, the stance appears to reflect a judgment that Lee's vision of serving as a "pacemaker" facilitating North Korea-U.S. dialogue must not be shaken.
The People Power Party went on the offensive, calling it "a devastating Armed Forces Day." Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized Lee's message, saying, "He did not even utter the word 'landmine' and glossed over it with the phrase 'unforeseen accident,' something only a third party would say." He added that "President Lee is laying a minefield across South Korea's national security." Chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon said, "We mark Armed Forces Day with a heavy heart," criticizing that "even in the face of a grave security disaster, the Lee Jae-myung administration is maintaining its submissive line toward North Korea." Rep. Na Kyung-won of the same party also lashed out, saying the military "has become a 'Hong Gil-dong army' that cannot call a landmine a landmine or a provocation a provocation." The party leadership boycotted the Armed Forces Day ceremony in protest.
The government and the ruling party are focusing on establishing North Korea's responsibility while maintaining that the incident must not shake the Lee administration's framework for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. The Democratic Party of Korea appeared to ease the Presidential Office's burden over its North Korea messaging by voicing sharp criticism, with floor leader Han Byung-do calling for "a responsible apology and measures to prevent a recurrence" and chief spokesperson Park Sung-joon saying the party "will not let this pass." At the same time, the party has drawn a line against responses that could escalate tensions, such as resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea or so-called "Kim Jong-un decapitation drills."
The Ministry of Unification also stressed that "ending long-standing hostility and confrontation and building a peace in which there is no need to fight is the most realistic path to protecting the lives and safety of our people." Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who cut short a trip to Europe to return home, said, "Along with a thorough investigation to establish the facts, measures based on the final findings will be necessary," while raising his voice to add that "this must not become a pretext for disparaging or distorting our efforts toward peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Meanwhile, in his Armed Forces Day address, Lee invoked the "self-reliant defense" pursued by former Presidents Park Chung-hee and Roh Moo-hyun and said he would "put the final period on it by regaining wartime operational control." He also set a goal of building a domestically produced nuclear-powered submarine by the mid-2030s, while expressing his intent to expand the ranks of technical non-commissioned officers through a selective voluntary enlistment system and to move swiftly and boldly to establish a national military academy. He particularly stressed the military's political neutrality, saying, "We will establish a culture and institutions so that never, under any circumstances, will an insurrection by the military occur again."
