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Rumor has it that a 17-year-old female North Korean soldier was among those who shot at a South Korean tourist at Mt. Kumgang resort two weeks ago. The rumor surfaced in a consultative meeting of the ruling Grand National Party and the government on Sunday.
A participant in the meeting was quoted by another as saying Park Wang-ja (53) walked past two North Korean guard posts. Upon seeing Park, the 17-year-old female soldier standing guard at the second guard post fired a warning shot. And other soldiers at the first guard post also fired shots at Park, who was running away.
Participants were unable to confirm the rumor and dropped the subject.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun on Monday told reporters, "We've checked with the government investigation team about this rumor, but the government has no such information. The issue will have to be solved by the investigation team on site in the future."
But a key GNP official said intelligence authorities apparently heard the story from an official with a civic group, who has heard it from a North Korean official on his recent visit to the North. ¡°It is hearsay and therefore not trustworthy,¡± he said. ¡°So we need to be cautious."
The ruling-party official speculated that North Korea has been intentionally spreading the rumor about the young female soldier to placate public opinion in the South by making the shooting look accidental.
That theory is backed by remarks from officials with a South Korean aid agency who have been to North Korea recently. They said North Korean officials claimed the shooting was an accident and the shooter a new recruit. The official said the North Korean officials he met were concerned that cross-border exchanges might become difficult, and appeared embarrassed and expressed regret.
Former North Korean soldiers who defected to the South dismissed the rumor. They said the North Korean Army has no female infantry and added it was nonsense that a 17-year-old recruit would stand guard at Mt. Kumgang, where only senior soldiers are stationed. They said normally two to three soldiers, including the most senior soldier, stand guard in a team on ambush duty, and there was zero possibility that a North Korean soldier would fire at a South Korean tourist by accident in peacetime.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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