By Lee Tae-hoon
A former top military commander who stepped down to take responsibility for the mishandling of North Korea’s deadly attack on a South Korean warship March last year has published a memoir detailing his struggles over the tragic incident.
Lee Sang-eui, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), left the military last June in disgrace amid allegations that he was drunk on a submarine on March 26 when the warship Cheonan was torpedoed near the disputed sea border in the West Sea by a North Korean submarine.
“I drank with participants of a seminar held to find ways to improve the joint operation capability of the Armed forces at a dinner gathering,” he recalled in his book, “Sereno Leader.”
“But I never regretted attending the gathering as it was a normal and legitimate meeting.”
He claimed that the gathering helped to come up with a solution to streamline the nation’s 650,000-strong military.
In his memoir, he says the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force, senior U.S. officials and civil military experts were also present at the seminar and dinner gathering in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul.
He, however, denied allegations that he was too intoxicated to assume his duties that night. “Not a single line of media reports mentioned why I was there, why the gathering was organized and how much I drank that night,” the retired general said.
“I’ve never drunk to the point I lose control of myself ever since I joined the military.”
Of 104 crewmembers onboard the 1,200-ton ship, 46 were killed in the Cheonan tragedy.
Lee was unable to play his commanding role as he was out of reach when the North secretly launched an attack on the frigate. According to the JCS, he was on a train heading back to Seoul after the gathering at that time.