Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula must not be distorted by partisan fighting over the response to a North Korean land mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone.
Cutting short a trip to Europe, Chung wrote on Facebook on the 30th as he departed from Belfast, Northern Ireland, that "a thorough investigation to establish the facts will be needed, along with measures based on the final findings." At the same time, he said it "must not become a pretext for disparaging or distorting our efforts toward peace on the Korean Peninsula."
"Rather than wasteful partisan strife, we must reflect deeply on why such unfortunate incidents keep recurring and seek fundamental alternatives," he said. "Responsible politicians should put their heads together calmly to determine the essence of the problem and find solutions."
Chung also used the visit to Northern Ireland to restate his commitment to building a peace regime on the peninsula. "On this Northern Irish soil, where past tragedy has been turned into hope for today, I renew my resolve to end the long war on the Korean Peninsula and establish a permanent peace regime," he said. "That alone is the only path, and the fastest path, by which our young people in the flower of their youth will no longer be sacrificed and by which we can stride beyond the DMZ and out onto the continent."
Chung had originally planned to begin with the visit to Northern Ireland on the 29th, then deliver a special lecture in Dublin and attend Germany's 36th anniversary of reunification before returning home on the 5th. He had intended to attend the German ceremony as a government representative.
But after military authorities announced that the DMZ explosion was caused by a mine laid by North Korea, and Kim Yo-jong, a department director of North Korea's Workers' Party, issued a statement denying it, Chung canceled the planned stop in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, and the ceremony in Germany, and headed home early after his stay in Northern Ireland.
