Professor calls for reinvestigation of Cheonan sinking
By Kim Rahn
Sunken frigate Cheonan is being lifted in the seas near Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea in this 2010 photo. / Korea Times file
A professor has claimed Seoul should apologize to Pyongyang if a new investigation finds North Korea was not responsible for the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan in 2010.
An investigation jointly conducted by experts from five countries at the time concluded a North Korean torpedo sank the ship. The professor called this into question in a contribution to a monthly magazine published by the National Unification Advisory Council, a presidential consultative body on the unification of the Korean Peninsula.
In the contribution, political science professor Yoon Tae-ryong of Konkuk University said the two Koreas need to put themselves in each other's shoes to keep the reconciliatory mood alive.
“At an appropriate time, we need to reinvestigate the Cheonan incident and find the truth, and if it is found the South falsely accused the North of the incident, it should make an official apology to the North,” Yoon said. “That will be an important beginning for the two Koreas to reconcile with each other and jointly strive for unification.”
The contribution brought controversy as it denies the results of the joint investigation, about which some people have kept raising suspicions.
On March 26, 2010, the 1,200-ton frigate sank in the waters near Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea after an explosion. Forty sailors were killed and six went missing. Afterward, a joint team comprised of 73 experts and military officials from five countries investigated the incident for two months and concluded a torpedo from a North Korean submarine was the cause. The team said Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, orchestrated the attack.
North Korea has refuted that conclusion. During a South Korean art delegation's visit to Pyongyang for a performance in April amid the detente mood, Kim, introducing himself to South Korean reporters, said, “I'm Kim Yong-chol, the one who South Korea calls the main culprit for the sinking of the frigate Cheonan.”