hankyoreh

Gyeonggi Province

Family members of missing sailors from the Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) Cheonan expressed disappointment Wednesday following a press conference that included survivors of the disaster held at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The family members said that they did not act in a resentful way towards the survivors, but were disappointed with the attitude of the military authorities, which seemed to present the survivors so that they could in some fashion read an answer sheet given to them in an attempt by military authorities to evade responsibility.

Park Gyeong-sik, cousin of Chief Petty Officer Park Gyeong-su, who took part in the West Sea hostilities in 2002 and disappeared during the Cheonan disaster, blamed the lack of good faith by the military authorities in saying, “They called a group of people who are suffering here and what did they do?” Park continued, “Those people probably also felt a serious burden, but it seemed like the Ministry of National Defense was using the mouths of the survivors to pass off responsibility.” He also said, “Gyeong-su was treated for the aftereffects incurred from the West Sea battle.” Park added, “It seems like the military authorities have summoned those suffering people as if they were criminals and made them match their story or some such thing.”

The uncle of Petty Officer First Class Moon Yeong-wook indicated that he had few expectations for the Defense Ministry’s announcement. He said, “They said that the incident happened during normal operations, so we have no choice but to believe what they said."

Family members of the missing sailors breathlessly watched the survivors’ press conference over a television set up in their temporary accommodations at the headquarters of the navy’s Second Fleet Command. Even as they expressed disappointment at the answers offered by the Defense Ministry, they also showed compassion as they watched the surviving sailors, unable to fully raise their heads.

Some of the family members looked away from the television, unable to summon the courage to watch. The wife of Chief Petty Office Choi Jeong-hwan said, “I did not look at the television. How could I have the focus…?” before trailing off.

The grandmother of Petty Officer First Class Park Seong-gyun said, “Why look? It is all the same.”

Some of the family members were also unable to conceal a small amount of passing envy towards the surviving sailors. The father of 21-year-old sailor Kang Dae-min said, “I think it is fortunate that they at least made it back alive.” Kang added, “But, I also thought about how wonderful it would be if our son were also among the surviving sailors.”

A meeting between family members of the missing sailors and the surviving sailors was schedule for Wednesday afternoon, but was pushed back out of consideration from the family members, who wished to avoid placing an undue psychological burden on the survivors. The family members also reported hearing both first and second-hand that the noncommissioned officers in charge of the temporary accommodations investigated whether there were public officials dispersed among the family members and that the police had called family members of the missing sailors to ask for personal details.

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