By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Tuesday that South Korea and the United States have postponed joint naval exercises again as the two allies are stepping up diplomatic efforts to censure North Korea for sinking a South Korean warship in March.
"The South Korean and U.S. authorities are readjusting the timing for the joint drills, given such moves could place a burden on our diplomatic efforts," Kim said during a National Assembly interpellation session.
The large-scale, anti-submarine exercises were originally scheduled for later this month in the West Sea.
The two sides will hold the drills after the U.N. Security Council takes action against North Korea, a source at the defense ministry said.
During the parliamentary session, Minister Kim denied allegations by state auditors that some military commanders had tried to falsify the circumstances of the cause of the sinking of the frigate Cheonan in the West Sea on March 26.
Kim's remarks came after the country's military expressed skepticism about the interim results of an investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) of the military's response to the naval disaster.
Announcing the interim outcome of its probe into the ship sinking last week, the BAI said that some top officers at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Navy were negligent in their organization of maritime defense against possible North Korean infiltration.
It said the officers failed to report the incident to the upper chain of command, apparently to avoid criticism over "loopholes" in national defense. The auditors recommended that 25 military generals, working-level officers and civilian officials be disciplined for negligence.
"We'll humbly accept the BAI inspection results and will take appropriate measures soon," the minister said.
"But I feel terrible that people think that the military will habitually lie or distort and exaggerate a situation," he said.
He said the military's unique decision-making procedures should be considered.
Kim refuted a BAI conclusion that a Navy commander directed his subordinates to report to the upper chain of command that another warship, Sokcho, had mistakenly been tracking a group of birds after the Cheonan sinking.
The BAI said it couldn't confirm whether the suspect objects were the birds or the North Korean submarine that torpedoed the Cheonan.
"Even if the captain of the Sokcho judged the objects were North Korean subs and traced them, his upper chain of command has the authority to confirm the authenticity," Kim said. "That is the commander's discretionary power, so he should not necessarily be blamed for manipulating the nature of the incident."
Following the BAI report, the military conducted a reshuffle that affected four four-star general posts Monday. A reshuffle of two- and three-star generals will follow in the coming weeks.