‘JCS chief nominee played golf despite N.K. landmine attack’

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman-nominee Lee Sun-jin was playing golf on Aug. 9 when North Korea was reported to have carried out a landmine provocation that wounded two South Korean troops, an opposition lawmaker revealed Sunday.

Kim Kwang-jin of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, criticized his golfing on the day as an “inappropriate” act, raising the question of whether he could perform well in the military’s top position.

“While he was serving as head of the 2nd Operations Command, he vowed to deter North Korean provocations and build a firm readiness posture,” the lawmaker said in a press release. “But he went golfing on the day when North Korea’s culpability for the landmine provocation was revealed.”

The landmine blasts occurred in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas on Aug. 4. South Korean authorities concluded that the North intentionally implanted the wooden-boxed landmines in the DMZ. But the North has denied responsibility, calling the South’s claim a fabrication.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)