SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Wednesday that South Korea should keep asking North Korea to apologize over the recent land mine blast that blew off the ankle of a South Korean military officer at the heavily armed border between the two sides.
South Korea has determined that land mines deliberately planted by North Korea on the South's side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) were the cause of the Sept. 21 blast that left three South Korean soldiers wounded, two of them seriously.
One of the two seriously wounded, a lieutenant colonel, had one of his ankles blown off in the explosion.
South Korea's military has demanded North Korea apologize, but the North has denied any involvement, with Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un, accusing Seoul of fabricating the findings and warning of "merciless" retaliation if the South takes any corresponding actions.
On Wednesday, the prime minister said she believes there should be an apology from the North.
"Now that it has been clearly revealed that this is North Korea's fault and that they committed this, I think there need to be procedures to continuously demand an apology from North Korea and clearly receive one," Han said during a meeting with reporters marking her 100th day in office this week.
Han said she was very shocked to learn of the blast.
"We first took care of issues such as looking into their (injured officers') condition and how the surgery went, and separately from that, with regard to our response, this is a matter that should be taken care of by the defense ministry and the National Security Office," she said.
Han, a former CEO of online portal giant Naver before she joined the government as minister of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups last year, took office as prime minister on July 1. She took over from her predecessor Kim Min-seok, now leader of the ruling Democratic Party.
During her first 100 days, Han said she focused on three main areas, including efforts to realize the "three megaprojects" initiative that calls for a national transformation driven by semiconductors, physical artificial intelligence (AI) and AI data centers, and AI-driven administrative innovation.
Saving lives from industrial accidents and suicides, and swift housing supply were also her focuses, she said.
With regard to tensions between the president and the Supreme Court chief justice over the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice, Han said the rights of two sides should be more clearly defined.
"If the right of recommendation belongs to the Supreme Court chief justice, and the appointment power belongs to the president, does the president actually have the discretion to refuse an appointment when a recommendation is properly made, or is the president obligated to follow it? This is a lingering legal dilemma that nobody seems to clearly answer," Han said.
Han also said that she will try to help the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Prosecution Service -- two new agencies established after the abolition of prosecutors' right to investigation -- take root at an early date, while reforming the police so that the organization can regain trust from the people and take on greater investigative roles.
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook speaks during a meeting with reporters marking her 100th day in office at the prime minister's residence in the central city of Sejong on Oct. 7, 2026. (Yonhap)
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