hankyoreh

March 30. 　 　　

After initially ruling out the possibility of North Korean involvement in the sinking of the Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) Cheonan, the government has been subtly shifting its stance and leaking theories implicating North Korea. In particular, this trend has emerged mainly from the military, the party most directly involved with this incident, leaving some critics charging that they are trying to evade responsibility without providing accurate information to the public.

In the immediate wake of the incident, the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) and the military detailed the chance of North Korean involvement as slight. Following a security-related ministerial meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak just after the accident took place on Friday night, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eun-hye was circumspect, saying, “At present, we are not clear about the question of a North Korean connection.” In a National Assembly briefing Saturday, Lee Ki-sik, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence operations office, said, “No North Korean warships have been detected, and there is no possibility of their approaching the waters where the accident took place.” Additionally, the military has stressed on multiple occasions that it has picked up no “unusual trends” in North Korean military movements while monitoring.

However, starting with a National Assembly National Defense Committee report on Monday, mention of possible North Korean involvement began subtly emerging within the government. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young strongly hinted at a North Korean connection, saying, “North Korea could do something and then maintain their silence in order to cover it up, or it could be intended to avoid misunderstandings or to maximize the provocation.” Moving a step further, a military official raised the possibility of an “intentional provocation” by North Korea on Wednesday. While acknowledging that there was no definite evidence, the official said, “The government sees a more than 90 percent likelihood that the party behind the torpedo attack is North Korea, which could have occurred as a result of something such as an underwater craft.”

As recently as Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Sun-kyu said, “As of now, nothing has emerged indicating that North Korea was involved.” But after conservative newspapers continued to take issue with its response, the Cheong Wa Dae seemed to take a step back. On Wednesday, an official there said, “The position of the Cheong Wa Dae is that we have never ruled out the possibility of North Korean involvement.”

Some analysts are calling the changing positions within the government a strategy of “scale trading” by the Cheong Wa Dae, which is conscious of objections from certain conservative figures. While some conservatives have made unsubstantiated allegations such as “It is clearly a North Korean attack, but the government is concealing that fact because of the six-party talks or the inter-Korean summit” or “MB (President Lee Myung-bak) is afraid of war,” the current administration cannot avoid being conscious of the group, which represents its major support base. Other observers are claiming that the military is also trying to divert attention with claims of an “external impact” or “external attack” out of concerns about potential calls for certain individuals to take responsibility or compensation for the family members of the missing sailors.

In response to this, a senior official who worked at the Cheong Wa Dae said, “If the truth gets cut off, with the government refusing to offer a truthful answer, the people will become distrustful, and it will not be helpful for national security either in the long term.” The official added that the government “must quickly supply the information necessary for the people to make a judgment.”

In a radio interview, Democratic Party Lawmaker Park Young-sun said, “There is a tendency in South Korea for the military administration and conservative press to conclude that this kind of incident is an enemy act and to foment an atmosphere of terror.”

“In particular, if they control information, it becomes possible to willfully reconstruct the incident in a way unconnected with the truth,” Park added.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]