By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The authorities are drawing criticism for keeping survivors of the sunken Navy frigate Cheonan off-limits to the press, while the reason behind the sinking of the ship remains shrouded in mystery after more than a week.
Of the 104 crew members, 58 were pulled to safety, while the search for 46 missing sailors has continued to no avail.
Most of the 58 survivors of the tragedy have been hospitalized at the Seongnam Military Hospital, Gyeonggi Province, where they are away from public exposure. They are allowed to see their families, but are completely barred from talking to the media.
Some politicians and civic groups are criticizing the Navy for being overly secretive about information, particularly compared to how the authorities previously dealt with the media after maritime calamities of such magnitude.
During the bloody skirmish between the two Koreas in June 1999 in the West Sea, the specifics of the operation ― from the beginning of the firefight until its termination ― were made public.
After the outbreak of the clash on June 15, the naval forces gave an explanation of the situation at the time.
The authorities were also seemingly more open with publicizing information during a subsequent engagement with a North Korean patrol boat in the West Sea in 2002, allowing some of the injured to speak to the press.
"More people are becoming suspicious of the government's attempt to conceal the truth behind the Cheonan incident. Most of the survivors have been collectively isolated with gag orders at a single hospital," Woo Sang-ho, the spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said in a briefing.
"It is hard to believe that the authorities have not been able to determine the fundamental cause of the incident when there are 58 survivors, including the captain of the warship," he added.
The Navy believes that fragmentary accounts of the incident from the survivors will be of little use in their investigation, but their eyewitness testimony is being increasingly considered crucial.
Officials with the hospital reportedly said that the survivors and their family members have been instructed by the authorities to remain silent about what they went through on the sunken 1,200-ton warship before being rescued.
Some of the survivors had asked to be treated in a private hospital but their request was denied.
For the time being, groups of four or five sailors are being treated in a single ward.
Official say the isolation of the survivors is a necessary measure, particularly for their psychological treatment.