"Cheonan Ship Captain, Drowning His Beloved Subordinates" Controversy Over Former Democratic Party Spokesperson's Remarks... Opposition: "Covering Up North Korean Crimes"

On the 7th, Cho Sang-ho, former full-time deputy spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared on Channel A's "News Top 10." Photo by Channel A "News Top 10" broadcast capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Former senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party, Cho Sang-ho, sparked controversy in the political sphere by saying that former Cheonanham captain (retired colonel) Choi Won-il "drowned his beloved subordinates." The opposition criticized Cho's remarks as outrageous.

On the 7th, on Channel A's 'News Top 10,' Cho said regarding the treatment of the Cheonanham victims, "Former captain Choi Won-il, a retired colonel, was also promoted. But he has no right to speak on this (treatment) matter," adding, "Former Captain Choi drowned all his beloved subordinates at that time and later bore no proper responsibility."

When other panelists tried to stop him by saying, "That’s a dangerous statement," and "Captain Choi did not drown them," Cho did not back down, saying, "No, as the captain, he must take responsibility."

Cho explained, "Even if it was during a Korea-US joint training operation, if he did not even realize they were torpedoed, he must take responsibility as a commander. That is why I used the term 'drowned.'"

As these remarks became a subject of criticism, former Captain Choi responded on Facebook the same day, saying, "I watched Channel A’s broadcast well today," and "I hear I drowned 46 people; I am waiting for the Democratic Party’s stance."

The opposition condemned Cho’s remarks. Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, wrote on his Facebook, "I cannot contain my anger at such outrageous remarks made so boldly just one day after Memorial Day." Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min of the same party criticized, "The culprit who drowned the Cheonanham soldiers is North Korea," and added, "To blame former Captain Choi, who lost 46 comrades, for crimes committed by Kim Jong-un and Kim Yong-chol makes me fundamentally question if he is truly a fellow citizen of the Republic of Korea."

In response to the criticism, Cho also posted on Facebook, "What exactly is the offensive remark?" and criticized, "The captain commander did not even know what hit them while the ship was sinking due to torpedoing. In the end, 46 young lives were lost; does the captain bear no responsibility?"

He continued, "Even the Board of Audit and Inspection demanded investigation and disciplinary action against commanders including 25 generals, and among them, 12 were referred for investigation on suspicion of violating military criminal law, but the Lee Myung-bak administration’s military dismissed all charges," and questioned, "Is there no responsibility for the captain for those young men drowned in the cold sea? Is there no responsibility for the Lee Myung-bak government and its party that gave a clean chit to the military leadership at the time?"

Cho concluded his post by saying, "If you truly mourn the 46 Cheonanham warriors, you should not protect those who made mistakes in the command and actively concealed them. I respectfully pray for the deceased’s soul."

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