DEFENSE MINISTRY HOLDS N.KOREA ACCOUNTABLE

[Anchor Lead]

The 21st National Assembly began its first audit of the government on October 7. During a parliamentary inspection of the Defense Ministry, Minister Suh Wook came under fire over his ministry's handling of the shooting death of a South Korean government official by North Korea near a western sea border last month. The minister made it clear that North Korea should take full responsibility for the incident.

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During a parliamentary inspection of the Defense Ministry, opposition lawmakers heavily criticized Suh Wook for his ministry's negligence regarding the shooting death of a South Korean fisheries official by North Korea in late September. They denounced the ministry for failing to make sufficient efforts to rescue the official when he went missing.

[Soundbite] REP. SHIN WON-SIK(PEOPLE POWER PARTY) : "South and North Korea are supposed to make contact via an international marine communications network or other means when an accident occurs at sea. But the Defense Ministry did not take any of these steps."

The defense chief explained he had learned the following day that the official was found in North Korean waters, but it was difficult to take immediate action solely based on the intel.

[Soundbite] SUH WOOK(DEFENSE MINISTER) : "There were risks of intelligence asset disclosures if we took action against North Korea based on the information."

Ruling party lawmakers called for a thorough investigation into the indiscriminate disclosure of confidential military information, such as the details of radio wiretapping.

[Soundbite] REP. KIM BYUNG-JOO(THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY) : "It is predicted collecting intelligence about North Korea will become quite difficult. The military should protect security assets thoroughly."

Suh made it clear the incident is in violation of the spirit of the Inter-Korean Military Agreement of Sept. 19, 2018. He also pointed out, it can be considered a hostile act by North Korea from a comprehensive perspective.

[Soundbite] SUH WOOK(DEFENSE MINISTER) : "North Korea's action was clearly wrong. The regime should take full responsibility for this. A fact-finding investigation is necessary to uncover the truth."

Despite the absence of unusual moves by the North Korean military since then, Suh predicted Pyongyang could stage a show of force by boasting strategic weapons in a military parade to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party's foundation on October 10. The defense minister ruled out the possibility of granting K-pop group BTS an exemption from mandatory military service, which was proposed by some ruling party lawmakers. But he explained, an enlistment deferral could be an option.