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| Choi Won-il, head of a research center dedicated to sailors killed in the 2010 sinking of the ROK Cheonan corvette, speaks during its opening ceremony at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
A research center dedicated to the sailors who were killed in the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette, Cheonan, opened on Wednesday to honor their sacrifices and set the record straight about the tragedy for which North Korea is responsible.
Choi Won-il, who was the captain when the vessel sank following a torpedo attack by North Korea, will serve as the center's first director. Speaking in front of survivors, Veterans Affairs Minister Park Min-shik and other guests at the opening ceremony in Seoul, Choi said he will "forever remember" their devotion to their country.
The Navy corvette carrying 104 personnel broke in two and sank near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. International investigations that followed concluded that the destruction was caused by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine.
Yet North Korea denied any involvement in the incident. Russia and China, its longtime allies, questioned the credibility of the investigation's conclusions.
Even in South Korea, the incident became a source of political dispute and conspiracy theories rather than fostering unity. Some liberal politicians and media outlets refused to accept the conclusion of the investigation, while amplifying the stance of the North Korean regime.
The incident still is a sensitive political issue, recognized and promoted by conservatives and largely ignored by liberals. Last month, representatives of a new labor union for people in their 20s and 30s criticized major left-leaning labor groups for excluding issues such as the Cheonan sinking from their political agenda and messages.
The research center said it will help set up proper compensation systems for the victims and their families, while promoting facts about the incident. Some of the projects it is considering to creating include an archive of accounts from witnesses and evidence collected during the probes.
The veterans affairs minister said it is meaningful to open the research center ahead of the March 24 West Sea Defense Day, which honors the heroes who lost their lives while defending their nation in western waters.
"I will try my best to spread a culture of remembering and honoring their sacrifices, while compensating them responsibly for what they did for their country," he said.
His message echoes the pledges of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Only a month after taking office, Yoon invited the surviving Cheonan veterans and the family members of the fallen heroes to the presidential office, where he promised to remember and honor their sacrifices.
As part of the efforts, the administration had pressed ahead with a bill to upgrade the status of the agency handling veterans' affairs to a ministry-level body. It was approved last month by the National Assembly and will go into effect starting in June.
