By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) urged President Lee Myung-bak Thursday to dismiss Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Kim Sung-chan over the sinking of the Cheonan patrol ship near the inter-Korean sea border last Friday.
The demand came as opposition parties, led by the DP, are pushing for a parliamentary investigation into the disaster, which left 46 sailors missing in one of the country's largest naval accidents.
The actions are based on their preliminary conclusion that the possibility of North Korean involvement is very low and initial responses by the Navy to the disaster were poor.
"The defense and Navy chiefs should take responsibility for the tragedy and resign," DP chief policymaker Rep. Park Jie-won said. "That is the only way to placate public anger and restore people's trust in the military."
The lawmaker urged the military to provide all available information on what happened on the vessel and which mission it was conducting just before it sank Friday night.
The military has said it will provide details of the disaster after completing search and rescue operations, but the angry families of missing soldiers have alleged that the military is trying to conceal the truth.
The military's alleged poor handling is emerging as a major campaign issue with parties set to pick candidates for the upcoming June 2 local elections to choose mayors, governors and council members.
The elections are considered a confidence vote on President Lee Myung-bak, who entered his third year in office in February.
On Wednesday, the DP said it will collaborate with smaller parties to call for a National Assembly probe into the sinking. The parties said they will act with the DP if the government fails to answer the questions raised.
Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party, said Thursday his party will consider the DP's proposal.
However, the first thing to do is to find the exact cause of the naval disaster and search for missing sailors, he said.
The tragedy occurred only two weeks after Admiral Kim was named the Navy chief.
At an emergency Cabinet meeting, President Lee, backing the Navy's search and rescue efforts, said there were few problems in the military's initial handling of the sinking.