The Boy Who Was Sad About Cheonan Ship, Now a 'Haesa Cadet'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] On the night of March 26, 2010, Hyunwoo Kwon, a fourth-grade elementary school student, was deeply shocked. He could not hide his fear upon hearing the breaking news about the sinking of the Cheonan ship. The boy recorded his feelings in his diary with his small hands. In the diary entry dated April 14 of that year, Kwon wrote, "I am very, very sad. It is because the Cheonan ship was salvaged. Many people died, and their parents cried a lot. I am also sad because there is a great sad news in our country."

The illustrated diary also depicted the salvage of the Cheonan ship with the hull number '772' written on it. Kwon’s mother, Eunju Yoon, recalled, "I told my son a lot about the Cheonan ship because his heart was hurting," and added, "At the parents' meeting, not many people knew about it, so I explained it out of sadness."

Even as time passed, Kwon could not easily shake off his painful feelings. Preparing for college entrance, he applied to the Korea Naval Academy in 2018. Although he received a rejection notice, he challenged again last year and entered as a cadet of the 78th class last month.

Kwon’s story was shared through the Navy’s Facebook page during the ongoing "Cheonan Challenge." The "Cheonan Challenge" is a memorial event where the 10th anniversary tribute images are used in various forms and certified through personal social networking services (SNS). His mother, Ms. Yoon, posted a certification post along with the diary her son wrote when he was young.

Cadet Kwon said, "I was deeply shocked at the time of the Cheonan incident and felt sadness, anger, and resentment," adding, "The Cheonan incident was the biggest reason I applied to the Korea Naval Academy." He also said, "I want to become a proud officer who firmly protects the sea and prevent such tragedies from happening again."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.