bl<>South Korean Top General Axed Following Probe Into Ship Sinking
June 14 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s top military commander will be replaced after reports he mishandled North Korea’s alleged torpedoing of a warship, which included allegations he was drunk on duty at the time.
The government nominated Army Chief of Staff Han Min Koo to replace Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Lee Sang Eui, according to a spokesman at the Defense Ministry who declined to be identified, citing official policy. Han’s appointment has to be ratified by lawmakers before he can take up the post.
Lee, who had offered to resign yesterday over the incident, rejected some of the findings of a Board of Audit and Inspection that last week said 25 generals and civilian officials should be punished over the March 26 attack, in which 46 sailors died.
“While I humbly accept the fact that some mistakes had been made, some of the findings that aren’t true have caused myself and the military to lose face,” Lee said, according to a statement distributed to local media that was confirmed by one of the military spokesmen. The accusations “seriously damaged military morale,” Lee said.
The allegations may fuel skepticism at home about the military’s handling of the sunken ship as South Korea asks the United Nations Security Council to punish North Korea. President Lee Myung Bak today reiterated the need to make North Korea pay for the attack, even as he vowed to fix problems in the military and hold officials responsible.
Almost one in four South Koreans said they don’t trust the May 20 findings of a multinational panel, according to a poll commissions by the Hankook Ilbo newspaper on May 24. The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a Seoul-based civic organization, has sent e-mails to UN Security Council members, raising questions about the panel’s findings and calling for reinvestigation of the incident, Yonhap reported today, citing an official on the council it didn’t identify.
North Denial
North Korea has denied any involvement and accused the South of cooking up evidence to justify U.S.-led efforts to contain the regime of Kim Jong Il. The U.S. has pledged to help South Korea bolster its military and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared support for South Korea’s defense to be “rock solid.” The U.S. has 28,500 troops stationed on the peninsula, and about 50,000 more in neighboring Japan.
The U.S. and Japan are backing South Korea’s push for UN action against North Korea, while China and Russia have so far refused to criticize Kim’s government. Both China and Russia have the power to veto any censure or sanctions proposed at the Security Council.
The multinational panel plans to brief the UN Security Council at 3 p.m. New York time on June 14, Kim Young Sun, a spokesman for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry told reporters today in Seoul. North Korea will give its evidence after that, Reuters news agency reported, citing Kim.
Local Media
Reports that Lee Sang Eui was drunk or sleeping off a hangover during the sinking have dominated local media. The general didn’t return to duty until 5 a.m. on March 27, Yonhap and the Hankyoreh newspaper reported on June 11. The 1,200-ton Cheonan started sinking shortly after 9 p.m. the previous day.
South Korea’s military has denied reports that the general was sleeping off a drinking session during the sinking. Lee Sang Eui was in a command center between 10:42 p.m. on the night of the incident until 2 a.m. the next day, Park Sung Woo, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on June 11.
Kim Hwang Sik, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, told lawmakers on June 11 that the general had about 10 whiskey shots at dinner on March 26 before being told about the incident. Lee was still sober enough to give proper orders and was present in the military command center until 1:40 a.m. the next day, Kim said.
“One thing we realized was that officials in important command posts shouldn’t drink too much alcohol at any time should it affect their decisions,” Kim told lawmakers.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff falsified the timing of the sinking to disguise the military’s slow response, the state auditors said on June 10. The military also edited out video footage that would have revealed the actual timing of the event, the auditors said.
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