"Stop Playing Games with Cheonan Ship"... Former Commander and Survivors Won't Attend Cheonan Ship Launch Ceremony

Former Captain Choi Won-il "KCSC, What Country's Organization Are You?" Complains

Former Cheonan Warship Captain Choi Won-il is seen with reddened eyes while listening to remarks at a meeting between the bereaved families of the Cheonan incident and surviving soldiers, held on June 11 at the People Power Party Yeouido Research Institute.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] All surviving reservists, including former Captain Choi Won-il, have publicly declared that they will not attend the launching ceremony of the new Daegu-class frigate 'Cheonanham,' which is being revived as a new Daegu-class frigate.

On the 8th, former Captain Choi shared a news article on his Facebook stating that the Korea Communications Standards Commission had decided there was no issue with a YouTube content spreading the 'submarine collision theory' about the Cheonanham, expressing his intention to skip the launching ceremony. He further questioned, "The President says the Cheonanham was North Korea's act, so which country's organization are these people?"

Earlier, the Navy had invited surviving reservists including former Captain Choi and planned to hold the Cheonanham launching ceremony on the 9th at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan. The new Daegu-class frigate (FFG-II) hull number 7 is a 2,800-ton ship equipped with firepower capable of anti-air, anti-ship, anti-submarine operations, as well as land attack missions. At the request of the Cheonanham Bereaved Families Association and the Cheonanham Foundation, the ship was named 'Cheonanham.'

Initially, it was reported that former Captain Choi and many bereaved families of the soldiers who died during the attack would attend the launching ceremony, but with former Captain Choi publicly announcing his absence, a significant impact is expected.

In an interview with the media, former Captain Choi stated, "The government is condoning conspiracy theories, so why should I be used in a show? I had accepted the Ministry of National Defense's invitation and even reserved a ticket, but I have canceled it." He emphasized, "In a situation where the broadcast banning of YouTube content containing the Cheonanham conspiracy theory is not enforced, even if the Cheonanham is revived, I have no reason to go and applaud."

Jeon Jun-young, president of the Cheonanham Survivors' Association, also mentioned on his Facebook, "I don't think there is any reason to attend the launching ceremony tomorrow."

He directly criticized, "Mr. Moon Jae-in, stop playing around with the Cheonanham. Always putting on a 'show' with the Cheonanham and then stabbing us in the back while pretending to care, just stop paying attention." He added, "I hate you more than Kim Jong-un and Kim Yong-chol."

Previously, the Cheonanham Bereaved Families Association requested the deletion of content spreading false information related to the Cheonanham during the second round of consultations after launching a council with the Ministry of National Defense. In response, the Ministry of National Defense requested the Korea Communications Standards Commission to take action against eight YouTube contents, including the 'Cheonanham submarine collision theory.' However, the Commission held a review on the 28th of last month and concluded that there was 'no problem.'

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