hankyoreh

and the red dots represent areas where surgery took place in South Korea.

Kim Gwang-soo and Kwon Hyuk-chul, Staff Writer　

A bullet retrieved from the leg of Samho Jewelry captain Seok Hae-kyun, 58, who was seriously injured during the South Korean Navy’s suppression of Somali pirates, was found to have been fired by the South Korean naval forces. Another bullet fired by the pirates was found in his leg, while medical staff lost a third. Questions are now arising as to which side fired the bullet that left Seok in a state of unconsciousness.

In an announcement Monday, the special investigation headquarters of the South Regional Headquarters of the Coast Guard in Namhae, which is currently investigating the Samho Jewelry hijacking incident, said, “Of the two bullets extracted by medical staff from Captain Seok’s body, one was from an AK pistol carried by a pirate, and one is presumed to be from a South Korean Navy handgun or MP-5 submachine gun.”

Medical staff in Oman lost an additional bullet extracted from Seok’s body, the Coast Guard reported.

The Ajou University Hospital, which operated on Seok on Jan. 30, said that he had suffered five bullet wounds, leading to a ruptured liver, perforated colon, and fractures of his left forearm and left and right thighbones. The deterioration of his condition to the point where he currently depends upon an artificial respirator is suspected to be the result of the liver rupture and colon perforation. Analysts say there is a strong chance the cause of this was the lost bullet or a metal part from the vessel.

The Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff are placing the greatest weight on the possibility that the Navy bullet retrieved from Seok’s body was a stray that ricocheted after being fired by a UDT member during a gun battle with the pirates. At the time the UDT operation team entered the Samho Jewelry by pontoon bridge, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that Seok “has already been wounded by gunshots fired by a pirate and has collapsed on the ground” and that “we have implemented precision sighted firing at close range and killed seven pirates,” suggesting that even if Seok was hit by a bullet fired by a UDT member, it was more likely to have been a stray round than an accidental firing.

However, given the tense situation at the time, with one pirate perishing right next to him, it is impossible to rule out the possibility that Seok was stuck directly by a bullet fired while UDT forces were shooting the pirates. A Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, “A gun battle took place while Seok had collapsed, with pirates firing upon the operation team.”

Following the discovery of a UDT operation team bullet in the captain’s body, some observers are now questioning whether military authorities distorted their explanation of the situation in order to sidestep criticisms that their operation involved a reckless risk of civilian lives.

Indeed, the special investigation headquarters investigation showed that the pirates used sailors as human shields when the South Korean naval forces began their operation. When the UDT operation team undertook its first operation on Jan. 19 and subsequently failed, pirates had sailors stand outside the pilot house while they fired upon and wounded UDT forces who were approaching on high-speed boats.

For this reason, some observers are speculating that the pirates may have carried out a hostage operation using Seok as a shield.

Discrepancies have also emerged between military authorities’ first official explanation on Seok’s injuries, Monday’s situation briefing, and the accounts of UDT forces who took part in the hostage rescue operation.

Seok briefly recovered consciousness on Feb. 3, five days after being transported to South Korea and undergoing surgery, before lapsing into unconsciousness again on Feb. 4. As of Monday, he had not yet woken up and was still attached to a respirator.

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