<Anchor> The
military, who refrained from publicly refuting the explanation of North Korea, began to rebut indirectly, giving a relatively detailed explanation of the situation at the time. There seems to be an aspect of being conscious of public opinion criticizing the military response.
This is reporter Hak-Hwi Kim.
<Reporter> A
key military official opened today (28th), as if conscious of the criticism that the response of the military authorities was passive in about six hours from discovery to attack.
Unlike North Korea's explanation that it only killed illegal intruders who refused to respond to interrogation, the situation changed rapidly during rescue activities.
A key official from the Ministry of Defense said, "For a considerable amount of time, we have recognized the situation that seems to be a rescue process," he said.
This is an explanation to the effect that the North Koreans did not take any action because they thought it would rescue Mr. Lee, and the military was not letting go.
At the same time, he said that he would objectively review our information from the standpoint of a third party regarding the differences in announcements between the two Koreas regarding the declaration of intention to visit North Korea and whether the body was damaged.
In addition, he said that there is no specific trend of the North Korean military, and "it seems that North Korea is also engaged in search activities."
Yesterday, North Korea has not yet responded to the Blue House's request for a joint investigation between the two Koreas, but the Unification Ministry said it is closely monitoring North Korea.