Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, center, presides over a key military commanders' meeting held at the ministry compound in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap



Defense minister vows to strengthen maritime surveillance operations



By Jung Da-min



The country's surveillance capabilities are being called into question after a North Korean fishing boat carrying four sailors was found in Samcheok Port, 130 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), last Saturday, apparently without being detected by the military.



Speaking at a commanders' meeting held at the ministry Wednesday, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo expressed regret over the failure of the military's surveillance apparatus and vowed to strengthen "defensive" operations around the coastline.



"The failure of maritime surveillance leaves much to be desired," Jeong said. "All members of the military should regard the situation related to the North Korean vessel as serious. If any officials are found to have been delinquent in the matter, they will be held accountable. At the same time, we will improve current monitoring operations."



Responding to this, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) demanded Jeong step down and take responsibility for what floor leader Na Kyung-won described as a serious security lapse.



The demand came after it was revealed that it was two-and-a-half days before the South Korean authorities learned about the North Korean ship after it crossed the de facto inter-Korean sea border, raising concerns about the military's maritime surveillance.



According to officials at the Ministry of National Defense, Wednesday, the North Korean vessel departed from North Hamgyong Province in North Korea, June 9, and it was reported to them by a resident of Samcheok, June 15.



The boat joined a group of other fishing vessels in the East Sea near the NLL, June 10 with the occupants pretending to be fishing on June 11 and 12. They did this as two of the four told South Korean investigators they had planned to defect, an official explained.



Sailing south from around 9 p.m. on June 12, it passed about 55 kilometers east of Ulleung Island and remained at sea until around 8 p.m. that day, before deteriorating weather made the crew decide to head for land.



At around 9 p.m. on June 14, the vessel was around five kilometers off Samcheok with its engine turned off. This made it difficult to detect according to the officials. It later sailed into port where a Samcheok resident spotted it around 6:50 a.m. the following day and reported it.





The underlined phrase in this note written by Lt. Gen. Lee Jin-Sung, commander of Republic of Korea 8th Corps, during a commanders' meeting, reads "Failure of maritime surveillance operations." Yonhap