Seoul, May 11 (IANS) South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Monday criticised the government for downplaying a strike on a South Korean-operated cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and refraining from describing it as an Iranian attack.
A South Korean investigation team has concluded that two “unidentified airborne objects” caused an explosion and fire aboard the Panama-flagged cargo vessel Namu, operated by South Korean shipping firm HMM Co., in the conflict-hit strait last week, reports Yonhap news agency.
“Our government earlier insisted there were low chances that the vessel had come under attack,” PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said during a meeting of the party’s supreme council. “Now that the strike has been confirmed, it is saying it will not prejudge who was behind the attack.
“(The government) has no willingness whatsoever to protect the safety and property of the people,” he added.
Jang also argued that the Iranian state media has already acknowledged the attacks.
“It’s like the attacker is making a confession, and the person who got hit is denying it,” he said.
Last week, Iran’s state-run Press TV published a commentary piece implying that targeting a South Korean vessel that violated maritime rules could constitute a sovereign right, though it did not provide evidence.
The Iranian government has denied any military involvement in the attack.
Announcing the results of the investigation on Sunday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said the unidentified flying objects were captured on surveillance footage but that there were limitations in determining their exact type, origin and physical size.
South Korea plans to conduct further analysis of engine debris recovered from the scene, the ministry said, stressing that the government will not prejudge who is to blame for the incident.
PPP floor leader Song Eon-seog also criticised the government’s delayed response to what he described as a “grave security issue with people’s lives at stake.”
“It took the Lee Jae Myung government nearly a week to officially confirm that the vessel had come under attack, and even then, it tried to move on using the vague expression of ‘unidentified airborne objects,'” he said.
The Namu, along with some 2,000 other vessels, has been stranded in the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli war against Iran that began in late February.
The vessel was carrying 24 crew members, including six South Koreans, with no injuries or casualties reported.
–IANS
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