Two Generals and Three Officers Face Disciplinary Action


By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

The South Korean military failed to properly report the July 14 inter-Korean naval incident mainly due to the carelessness of the top brass and mid-level officials, a joint investigation concluded on Friday.

President Roh Moo-hyun, after being briefed about the results of a weeklong investigation into the reporting failure, instructed Defense Minister Cho Young-kil to give ``warnings’’ to those responsible, a lesser punishment than was than generally expected.

In a media conference at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Park Jung-jo said the event was caused by a mixture of the Navy’s stiff alertness since the 2002 bloody naval clash between the two Koreas and some high-level officers’ poor understanding of the recent development in inter-Korean relations.

``We concluded the naval operation on July 14 was conducted properly according to our rules,’’ said the chief investigator, ``but it was a grave mistake for the Navy to have failed to report the exact situation in accordance with the chain of command.’’

On July 14, a North Korean patrol boat crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a maritime border on the West Sea between the rival Koreas, at around 4:47 p.m. and retreated to its own waters at 5:01 p.m. after receiving two warning shots.

South Korea’s navy radioed messages five times, including the first sent just before the North’s vessel crossed the border, and the North Korean navy responded through the recently established radio hotline three times, according to the joint investigation team.

In its first message to the South, the North Korean navy claimed that the approaching boat was not its own but a Chinese fishing boat. South Korea’s navy fired warning shots, ignoring the North’s claim. The claim was later proved to be untrue.

The problem pointed out by Roh was that the Navy failed to report the radio contact to higher officials while telling the press that it was forced to fire the warning shots because the North didn’t respond to its repeated calls.

Officials in charge of communications and information told the investigators that they didn’t believe the North’s message since it was seen as a ``trick tactic’’ due to the circumstances.

``Defense Minister Cho proposed stern punishments for two general-grade officers and relatively softer punitive measures for three lower-level officials,’’ ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Nam Dae-youn said.

Roh, however, instructed Cho to discipline those responsible with a warning, a much lower level of punishment, while extolling the speed and accuracy of the report, he added.

Roh’s action, which surprised those expecting a massive military shakeup after stern penalties for those responsible, seemed to be a generous approach to improve relations with the military, which has been under criticism for being ``disrespectful’’ to the head of state, or the supreme commander of the nation’s armed forces.

``The president also instructed the military to fulfill its duty faithfully without hesitation,’’ Nam said.

Roh also seems to have moved to stave off possible attacks from the nation’s conservative forces represented by the opposition Grand National Party, which criticized the government for only scolding the military and not addressing the North’s violation of the sea border.

In the meantime, the Defense Security Command yesterday investigated Lt. Gen. Park Sung-chun, the chief intelligence director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for the fourth consecutive day for leaking military secrets regarding the July 14 incident to the media.

According to sources, the military investigators have concluded the information was not leaked intentionally by military authorities but personally by Park as he tried to defend the navy’s response to the intrusion by the North’s patrol boat.

A source hinted that, unlike the five officials to be dealt with mildly, charges would be laid on Lt. Gen. Park since the leaked information could be seen as quasi-confidential. The inquiry is expected to end early next week, officials said.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr