Families of Missing Sailors Demand Truth
By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporters
Families of missing sailors from the sunken frigate Cheonan called on military authorities Wednesday to disclose the details of their search and rescue efforts.
``Dozens of questions remain unanswered over the military's initial response and rescue efforts,'' a spokesman of the Union of Families of Missing Sailors (UFMS) said in a news conference at the 2nd Navy Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
``Unless the military offers a formal explanation, we will make them public in upcoming press conferences.''
The group pointed out that the progress of the rescue mission was much slower than the media reported.
``In contradiction to media reports that divers were carrying out rescue activities on the third day after the sinking, the military was not even aware where the bow of the ship was located when we arrived at the site,'' a member of the UFMS said.
Little progress has been made since the stern section of the wrecked warship, in which, experts believe, most of the 46 missing crew members are trapped, was found early Monday.
The families also criticized the Navy's lack of proper equipment necessary for the underwater mission.
``Korea is surrounded by the ocean on three sides. But its Navy has been found to have only one recompression chamber, a must for divers to safely adapt to atmospheric pressure changes,'' the UFMS said.
Sources say Korea has three recompression chambers, but two of them cannot be used as they are being repaired.
They say the U.S. 7th Fleet's rescue vessel Salvo, dispatched to the site of the tragic incident to assist in searches for possible survivors and bodies, has nine recompression chambers, which have yet to be used due to lack of coordination with the ROK Navy.
Faced with mounting criticism over the Navy's poor crisis management, divers have been conducting operations without proper equipment, often violating safety rules.
Of some 170 divers dispatched to the scene in the West Sea, one died Tuesday after passing out during a deep-sea dive without being equipped with a Surface Supplied Diving System (SSDS).
The West Sea is considered to have the world's third-fastest tidal currents, and is the place where renowned diver John Bennett went missing in 2004 while trying to detect oil leakage from a Korean wreck.
Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to hold a parliamentary session Thursday to discuss the tragedy, amid growing speculation over the cause of the sinking.