Kim Seung-gyeom, JCS: "Claiming Operation Was Disguised Is Defamation"

Rebuttal to Opposition Lawmaker's Criticism in Comprehensive Audit Report

On the 24th, General Kim Seung-gyeom, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the South Korean military's surveillance operation was successful when four North Korean residents defected by crossing the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea on a small wooden boat. He said, "Claiming that the military disguised the operation is a serious damage to the military's honor" and added, "It is difficult to accept."

Kim Seung-gyeom, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the National Assembly audit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff held on the 6th at the Joint Chiefs of Staff building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and responded to questions from lawmakers. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

On the 27th, during the comprehensive audit of the National Defense Committee at the National Assembly, General Kim responded to Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo's criticism that called it "an unprecedented incident that disguised a complete failure of the surveillance operation as a successful operation," and stated, "The surveillance operation failed, and the joint operation failed."

Opposition lawmakers pointed out during the audit that the military sent full forces to the scene only after a civilian report and failed to detect the North Korean wooden boat crossing the NLL, calling it a "failed operation," to which General Kim rebutted.

When Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Kyu-baek asked whether the surveillance operation related to the North Korean wooden boat crossing the NLL was successful, he answered "successful" and said, "The operation personnel fulfilled their responsibilities and roles and carried out the operation by demonstrating capabilities beyond what we had." He agreed with Ahn's suggestion that soldiers who detected faint objects with radar and thermal observation devices (TOD) in the early morning of that day deserved commendation, saying, "I think so."

Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik also responded "appropriately well" when asked whether the Navy responded well at the time. The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated in a document titled "Progress and Measures Regarding the North Korean Small Wooden Boat," distributed to the media that from 3 a.m. on the 24th, unusual North Korean activities were detected north of the East Sea NLL, and a destroyer was dispatched to respond to a North Korean patrol boat. The military authorities estimated that the North Korean patrol boat was chasing the North Korean wooden boat that crossed the East Sea NLL and headed south.

At the time, the Navy also urgently dispatched a maritime patrol aircraft and continuously shared the situation with the Army and the Coast Guard, the Joint Chiefs explained. At 5:33 a.m., the Army radar identified an unidentified object at sea as a small dot, and at 6:31 a.m., the TOD also detected it. At 6:59 a.m., the TOD determined the object to be a vessel. The Army radar operating base assigned a target number at 7:03 a.m., judging that "it is necessary to approach the site and verify."

At 7:10 a.m., while the military was preparing to dispatch forces to the site, a civilian ship discovered the North Korean wooden boat and reported it to the Coast Guard. The military authorities, having received the report from the Coast Guard, confirmed that it was the same vessel they were tracking. From 7:15 a.m., the military sent maritime patrol aircraft and warships to the site where the North Korean wooden boat was located.

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