Debate on Cheonan still in progress

By Shin Chul-ho

Not very long ago, I had an opportunity to discuss the incident concerning the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan with three teachers. The school principal took the stance that the Cheonan was surely torpedoed by North Korea, considering the circumstantial and actual evidence.

But the other two teachers' reactions was an obvious contrast to his view. One teacher protested, making a wry face, ``This administration has been misleading the public." The other teacher also said angrily, ``The Cheonan was not sunk by the torpedo attack but by the mistaken bombing of a U.S. warship on maneuvers 100km away or it struck a rock. If it had been caused by the underwater explosion of a torpedo, all the dead soldiers would have been torn apart."

I was very taken aback by their indignant remarks. Why didn't they trust the scientific evidence that the government had adduced to expound on North Korea's involvement in the incident? The idea suddenly came home to my mind that they ``would not” believe it due to their hatred of the current administration. To my astonishment, one of the teachers taught his students that the Cheonan was not connected with the North but fabricated by the South.

On Nov. 23, North Korea fired artillery shells at Yeonpyong Island. The incident killed two soldiers and two civilians, injured about a dozen people and forced some 6,000 residents to flee the bombardment to seek shelter in Incheon. Then the opposition Democratic Party that had shown reservations about North Korea's involvement in the Cheonan began to acknowledge it.

During the winter vacation, I met my two sons after a long while. One of them is a left-leaning high-school teacher. I asked him, ``What do you think about the government announcement of the Cheonan?" He replied, ``That's merely a government announcement. It lacks scientific evidence and ..." ``Ah! You, too!" I said to myself. I asked again, ``Is it correct, then, that North Korea fired shells at Yeonpyeong Island?" He answered immediately, ``Definitely, that's right."

Then on Jan. 21, I attended a web-chatting hosted by Spokesperson Aaron Tarver of the U.S. Embassy. I asked him, ``Many Koreans still don't believe the Cheonan was attacked by North Korea. Are there also many such Americans?" He responded, ``As far as the Cheonan is concerned, there is only one possible explanation. It is just that the ship was torpedoed and sunk by North Korea. I am very serious about this. I'm confident of it because I heard the detailed explanation by U.S. Rear Admiral Thomas Eccles, who took part in the multinational investigation. He explained all the possible scenarios related to the Cheonan one by one and made it clear that running aground, bad weather, engine explosion or failure, etc. cannot be the causes of the ship sinking. He concluded that the only possible explanation is that the Cheonan was hit by North Korea's torpedo attack. He briefed us on this already before many scattered components of the torpedo were collected."

I asked him again, ``Where can I find the documents that prove North Korea's involvement in the attack?" He replied, ``Chatters, please read the report on the attack against the Cheonan. You can find it at https://cheonan46.go.kr/category/ both in Korean and in English."

I think there can be no doubt that the ``Joint Investigation Report on the ROK Ship Cheonan” is authentic, compared to the cursory speculations which have been diffused by pro-Pyongyang leftist groups.

The writer is a teacher at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at heemy123@hanmail.net.