hankyoreh

By Kwon Gwi-soon　

The e-mail correspondence between Kim Jong-nam and a Japanese reporter did not include a message from Kim saying the sinking of the Cheonan was “based on the needs of North Korea,” as reported by the Chosun Ilbo recently.

In an article on the front and second pages of its Tuesday edition, the Chosun Ilbo reported the alleged remarks by Kim, the 41-year-old oldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, based on e-mail correspondence between him and Tokyo Shimbun editor Yoji Komi over the past seven years that had been obtained by the Monthly Chosun.

The Chosun Ilbo reported Kim as saying the sinking of the Cheonan occurred because “North Korea needs to emphasize the image of the Five West Sea Islands as a combat area. Only then do its nuclear program and ‘Military First’ policies gain legitimacy.” The article was written by a Monthly Chosun reporter who obtained a copy of the e-mail correspondence.

In a telephone interview Thursday with the Hankyoreh, Komi, the editor who exchanged e-mails with Kim, said, “There was no such content in any of the e-mails I received, nor do I recall ever hearing such a thing” from Kim.

Speaking in a telephone interview Thursday with the Hankyoreh, Monthly Chosun editor-in-chief Choi Byung-mook acknowledged that the reference to the Cheonan was not in Komi‘s book, but added, “Many other things that were investigated with other sources went into the article.”

Choi also confirmed that the reference to the Cheonan was not present in the e-mails obtained by the Monthly Chosun.

“There is a source for investigating Kim Jong-nam’s wording,” Choi said. “It was one line among the things we researched before.” But the Chosun Ilbo did not disclose this fact in reporting Kim‘s alleged remarks.

Indeed, the reference to the Cheonan is not present in the article from the February edition of the Monthly Chosun, which went on sale Tuesday. Kim’s reported remarks on the Cheonan are identical to those made in response to a question from Komi about the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. On Nov. 25, 2010, two days after the attack, Komi asked Kim, “Something heartbreaking has happened between North and South. Why do you think things like that happen?”

In response, Kim said, “North Korea may have the need to emphasize the image of the Five West Sea Islands as a combat area. Only then do its nuclear program and ‘Military First’ politics gain legitimacy.”

Choi said, “Kim Jong-nam has the same perception of Yeonpyeong Island and the Cheonan. He uses the same reasons in explaining them.”?Choi said the Chosun Ilbo would be presenting its position on the controversy in its Thursday edition. ?The newspaper‘s report was seen as an acknowledgment by North Korea of responsibility for the Cheonan sinking.

In an editorial printed Wednesday following the Chosun Ilbo report, the Dong-A Ilbo wrote, “Can South Korean leftists obedient to North Korea hear this disclosure from Kim Jong-nam, someone who is intimately acquainted with the internal situation of the North Korean regime, and still continue to claim that there is no evidence the attack on the Cheonan was North Korea’s doing?”

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