Veterans, families of 2002 naval battle seek damages from former military brass

The families of the six South Korean Navy sailors who died during the second naval skirmish off the coast of Yeonpyeong-do in the West Sea filed a suit against the top commanders of the South Korean military at the time, a local news agency reported Monday.

The second naval skirmish occurred on June 29, 2002, when North Korean navy vessels crossed the northern limit line and opened fire on South Korean Navy ships dispatched to ensure that they withdrew out of South Korean waters.

According to reports, the families of the six sailors and sailors who were injured during the incident filed a suit against 12 top military commanders and officials including former Minister of National Defense Kim Dong-shin, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lee Nam-shin, and former Chief of Naval Operations Jang Jung-gil. The plaintiffs are seeking compensations of about 600 million won ($516,000).

The plaintiffs claim that the 12 top commanders were responsible in preventing frontline soldiers from making sufficient preparations as they withheld essential intelligence gathered before the incident.

According to recent reports, South Korean military had intercepted North Korean communications days before the incident which indicated that an attack may be imminent.

“Our military’s patrol boats sustained serious damages because they had exposed their sides as usual in order to block the path of the North Korean vessels. If the information that could have allowed (the soldiers) to expect a skirmish was relayed properly, the sides of the vessels would not have been exposed,” the plaintiffs said.

“At the time military’s high-level officials had let down their psychological guard due to Kim Dae-jung administration’s ’Sunshine Policy’ and misunderstood the president’s will for facilitating South-North reconciliation.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)