Another Security Failure... How Will It Be Explained to the Public?

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] It has been breached again. This is already the third time. This time, there seems to be no excuse. Until now, the military has always made excuses to avoid responsibility whenever it announced cases of defection to the North or from the North. The public’s disappointment has grown as the military itself has fueled the controversy.

In June of last year, a North Korean fishing boat (Mokseon) crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea and entered Samcheok Port without any military or police intervention for 57 hours. At that time, the Coast Guard simultaneously reported the situation to the Blue House National Situation Room, the National Crisis Management Center, the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Intelligence Service, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. However, the military tried to evade responsibility by claiming that since the North Korean boat was discovered through a civilian report, it was appropriate for the Coast Guard to disclose the information. The military also downplayed the fact that the North Korean boat was found at the breakwater near Samcheok Port by vaguely stating it was “near Samcheok Port,” which further fueled the controversy. Eventually, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo stepped forward, admitted the “failure in surveillance,” and apologized to the public, bringing the matter to a close.

But even that did not last long. Between April and June, it was confirmed that Chinese nationals entered illegally at least three times by riding small boats through the waters off Taean. The military announced that although surveillance equipment detected the boats used for illegal entry several times in nearby waters, they either failed to recognize them or misjudged them as ordinary leisure boats. This explanation was similar to the one given when the North Korean small fishing boat entered Samcheok Port, where the military said the boat was detected by coastal radar but was mistaken for a reflection. Critics inside and outside the military accused the military of trying to suppress the controversy over surveillance failure by emphasizing that normal surveillance duties were performed.

The military is expected to face public criticism once again over this recent defection to the North incident. Mr. Kim swam across to the South near Ganghwado when he defected from the North. This area has seen several defections in 2013, 2014, and 2015. It was also detected that Mr. Kim surveyed the area a few days before defecting to the North. This suggests that he memorized the route he took when defecting to the South and then swam back to the North. If so, the military cannot avoid criticism for leaving the routes of repeated defectors to and from the North unguarded and for having lax surveillance.

The public wants to hear the exact causes of the repeated coastal surveillance failures rather than excuses from the military’s announcements.

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