[News Desk]
◀ Anchor ▶
A message sent by Han Ki-ho, a four-term lawmaker from the ruling party and a former army general, to the National Security Office chief has been captured by the press cameras.
The message suggested using the psychological strategy of having Ukraine bomb North Korean troops dispatched to Russia.
The opposition parties have strongly reacted, claiming that it’s an attempt to provoke inter-Korean tensions, disregarding public safety. Han responded by dismissing the criticism as an attempt to demonize him over a private message.
This is reporter Kim Jung-woo’s report.
◀ Report ▶
The captured Telegram message was sent by Han Ki-ho, a four-term lawmaker from the People Power Party and a former three-star general, to Shin Won-shik, the National Security Office chief, who is also a military junior.
Han suggests that if coordinated with Ukraine, it would be beneficial to bomb North Korean troops to cause damage and use it in psychological operations against North Korea.
Shin replied, “I will take good care of it.”
When Han asked if, besides dispatching troops, sending a liaison officer would be necessary, Shin replied, “It will be like that.”
The intent appears to be sending a liaison to enable communication with Ukraine so that the Ukrainian army can attack North Korean forces deployed in Russia.
The Democratic Party strongly opposed this saying it could provoke a serious security crisis by aggravating North Korea.
[Park Beom-gye / Democratic Party Member (National Defense Committee)]
“It threatens the security system of the Republic of Korea itself… It’s like Shin Yoon-seok-yeol’s version of ‘Northern Wind’. What are you going to do about this issue?”
The Progressive Party also criticized it as a malicious attempt to use inter-Korean conflicts for domestic political purposes, questioning whether Han couldn’t predict North Korea’s possible counter-response.
Han dismissed these criticisms, calling them absurd attempts to demonize a private conversation.
[Han Ki-ho / People’s Power Party Member (National Defense Committee)]
“It’s laughable to demonize a personal Telegram conversation when those lawmakers can’t even utter a word of criticism about North Korea dispatching troops to Russia.”
Han maintained that there is no problem since it would be Ukraine attacking the North Korean forces.
[Han Ki-ho / People’s Power Party Member (National Defense Committee)]
“It’s Ukraine attacking, not us, not South Korea. You should know what you are talking about, don’t you think?”
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup indicated that the idea of dispatching liaison officers diverges from the government’s stance.
President Yoon Seok-yeol has also mentioned considering flexible plans to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine depending on the actions of the North Korean troops deployed to Russia.
This is MBC News by Kim Jung-woo.
Video coverage by Lee Ji-ho / Video editing by Moon Myung-bae
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