As South Korea celebrated its Memorial Day on June 6, controversy over the 2010 sinking of the Navy warship Cheonan by North Korea is yet again drawing the ire of survivors and their families.
Cho Sang-ho, former deputy spokesperson of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and a political commentator, argued in a TV appearance on June 7 that Choi Won-il, the Cheonan’s captain at the time of the sinking, “was the one who buried his soldiers at sea.” The comment came while panelists on the show were discussing whether survivors and families of Cheonan are treated fairly.
“Retired Navy Col. Choi Won-il, who was the captain of the ship, was promoted afterward, and I do not think he is in a position to talk about how they are treated. He was the one who buried all of his team members at sea and did not take any responsibility since then.” Choi has been actively leading the movement to ask President Moon Jae-in to provide a clear stance on whether he believes North Korea was responsible for the sinking.
Other panelists at the show tried to stop Cho from further comments and said he crossed the line. Cho did not step back. “No, he was the captain of the ship and should have taken responsibility,” he added. “He survived, and it was while the Navy was conducting a military exercise. As a commander, he should take responsibility for not even realizing that his ship was sinking.” Cho said that the other survivors might ask the government for better treatment, but Choi is not qualified to receive it.
Cho has been working as deputy spokesperson of the DP and was vice chairman of the police administration reform committee for Moon Jae-in’s campaign team during the last presidential election.
Retired Captain Choi Won-il said he will visit DP headquarters to find out whether this is the party’s official stance. “He (Cho) should have said things after studying the attack and who was behind the attack,” he said. “I believe it was clearly defamation and insulting to make such comments on a TV program that people can watch at home.”
Choi added that he feels responsible as captain of the ship, but said he doesn’t agree with Cho’s position. “The fundamental issue of this case is North Korea,” he said. “I cannot understand why he would talk about something like that to me, who is one of the victims, while he does not say anything about North Korea.” Choi argued that such comments are “beneficial to North Korea.”
On June 6, 16 survivors of the incident, including Choi, visited Seoul National Cemetery and held a protest. One of the main reasons behind the protest was the fact that only 13 out of 34 survivors received benefits as persons of national merit. They are also asking the government to punish those who were involved in reopening the probe on the sinking of Cheonan and to promise that it will not happen again.
In April, the Presidential Truth Commission on Deaths in the Military planned on restarting the investigation into the Cheonan to pursue already rejected claims that North Korea was not responsible for the attack. However, it decided to close the case after public backlash that accused the commission of making decisions based on conspiracy theories that were already debunked by credible institutions.
According to Rep. Kang Min-kook of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), 29 survivors applied for the benefit, but only 13 people were approved. “I cannot understand why some survivors would be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and some were not even though they were in the same ship and went through the same incident,” Kang said.
“The government should give proper respect and support to servicemen who devoted themselves for the country.” Kang also asked the Moon administration to provide a clear stance on who is responsible for the attack. Moon’s stance has been that “the government has a stance that North Korea is responsible for it.” Kang and the Cheonan survivors called on President Moon to avoid using this vague term and clearly express his opinion.
On March 26, 2010, 46 South Korean sailors were killed when a torpedo fired by a North Korean midget submarine caused the Cheonan to split in half. Another 56 sailors on board the ship were wounded. The joint civilian-military investigation group conclusively blamed the sinking on a North Korean torpedo. The North Korean torpedo had “No.1” written on it in Korean.
Meanwhile, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the top potential conservative presidential candidate, met with the leader of a group of Cheonan survivors on June 6. Yoon reportedly said that “the people who spread strange stories about the Cheonan, mock and ignore our fallen soldiers are those who threaten the fundamental root of the country and those who delude the world and deceive the people.”
Yoon visited Seoul National Cemetery on June 5 and stated that “I will make a country where people who sacrificed for our country are not enraged.” Yoon has not yet made a political announcement, but many speculate that he will soon join the PPP.
