Kim Min-seok
Role at the time: Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the governing party, speaking at a party Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly
Statement summary
At a Democratic Party Supreme Council meeting on September 30, 2026, party leader Kim Min-seok said the DMZ explosion "has been revealed to be caused by North Korea planting landmines" south of the Military Demarcation Line. SBS reported that he also condemned what he called North Korea's violation of the Armistice Agreement, said North Korea must apologize, and urged the military to take countermeasures.
“The DMZ explosion has been revealed to be caused by North Korea planting landmines south of the Military Demarcation Line.”
SBS News English-edition report of September 30, 2026 on Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok's remarks at a party Supreme Council meeting. SBS notes that its English text is machine-translated and may contain errors, so the wording is SBS's rendering of Kim's Korean remarks.
Why we used this label
The case asks whether North Korean forces planted the mines. Kim said the explosion had been revealed to be caused by North Korea planting landmines south of the MDL and, in remarks SBS reported alongside, condemned an armistice violation and demanded an apology. That accepts the attribution as established and criticizes the conduct, so we labeled it Condemned. The wording is SBS's English rendering.