The South Korean administration came in for some heavy criticism for its handling of the Yeonpyeong Island attack in a National Assembly meeting this morning.
In the meeting of the legislature’s National Defense Committee, Kim Jang Su, a former Minister of National Defense and sitting Grand National Party lawmaker told Minister of National Defense Kim Tae Young, “I am so regretful, for there should have been an intense counter-attack by fighters on the North’s coastal batteries.”
He additionally demanded that Kim “make a firm decision next time, as the Minister of National Defense.”
Lawmakers also sharply criticized the President’s initial response, “Avoid escalating the battle any further.”
Grand National Party lawmaker Yoo Seong Min pointed out, “Even though two fighters were standing by and battle regulations say confront the enemy with a counter-attack of two or three times the original attack, the commander-in-chief of our country’s armed forces feared escalation.”
Lee Hoi Chang, the leader of the Liberty Forward Party also noted, “These words are words benefiting the enemy at a time when we have to dominate the attacker. We have to figure out the exact reason why this comment was released to the press and he has to take responsibility for it.”
However, defending the administration’s actions and President Lee’s words, Kim replied, “It is the most appropriate measure when such provocations occur.”
In the same hearing, Song Young Sun, a member of the National Defense Committee and an expert on military and security issues, suggested that North Korea may have tested bunker busting bombs on Yeonpyeong Island, asserting, “Monitoring footage of bombs over Yeonpyeong Island, I am 100% convinced that they were bunker busters.”
She said the double explosions which are a feature of such bombs were visible in video of the attack. However, Kim neither confirmed nor denied the claim.
