Lawmakers from the main opposition party have boycotted an on-site inspection of Panmunjom in protest against the government's plan to reopen the inter-Korean border village to tourists next month.
A group of People Power Party members on the parliamentary national defense committee accused the Moon Jae-in administration on Friday of rushing to resume the tour program.
In particular, they argued that North Korea had yet to come clean about its fatal shooting of a South Korean maritime official and criticized the government for not doing more to push the issue.
Senior party member Han Ki-ho said he and his colleagues will instead travel to the Navy's Second Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek to commemorate soldiers killed in the North's deadly sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010.
The National Assembly's defense committee organized the on-site inspection of Panmunjom as part of the ongoing annual audit on government affairs.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
