A former opposition lawmaker’s past remarks ridiculing South Korean soldiers who lost their legs in a 2015 bloody land mine explosion are stirring up criticism weeks before the April parliamentary elections.

Chung Bong-ju, a Democratic Party (DP) candidate running for Seoul’s Gangbuk-B constituency, has come under fire over the comments he made on a YouTube channel in 2017 about the highly publicized incident for which a South Korean probe later concluded North Korea was responsible.

The Aug. 4 mine blast happened on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, near the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, when eight South Korean Army soldiers were on a regular scouting mission. The explosion severed the legs of two staff sergeants.

The panel on the YouTube channel was talking about ways that the two Koreas could use the ski resorts in the North ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games that the South was hosting.

Appearing as a guest, Chung said: “We have great stuff in th
e DMZ, don’t we? Ankle mines. We could all go into the DMZ and give out prizes. Give a set of crutches to each of those who step on the mines.”

Chung’s remarks have come into the spotlight since he won the party primary.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Chung issued an apology over the comments and said he also apologized to the victims over the phone and deleted the YouTube clip.

But the soldiers told some local media that Chung has never contacted them, much less given an apology.

Mindful of the growing criticism, the DP said it will look into whether Chung told the truth in the Facebook message.

“We need to confirm this as the controversy has arisen over the authenticity of his apology,” a DP official said.

Chung said in a separate Facebook post Thursday that he had made the public apology in a podcast the next day as he was unable to get the sergeants’ contact numbers.

“I have caused concerns again by giving the impression that I apologized directly to the two wounded soldiers,” Chung said. “I sincere
ly apologize once again to the two veterans.”

Chung said he will suspend his election campaign and stop appearing on online channels for the time being.

Observers say Chung’s candidacy could be at stake if he turns out to be untruthful.

DP leader Lee Jae-myung said he was aware of the gravity of Chung’s remarks.

“I am aware of the seriousness of the matter,” Lee said at a presser in the central city of Daejeon. “We will look into the issue from the general public’s perspective.”

But Lee dismissed media reports that the DP has launched an ethics inspection against Chung, saying it is “not a complex issue.”

Chung, considered to be in the DP mainstream aligned with party leader Lee Jae-myung, won the party ticket for the northern district in Seoul in the primary against Rep. Park Yong-jin, known to be outside the pro-Lee faction.

Source: Yonhap News Agency