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대한민국 해군 (Daehanminguk Haegun) Republic of Korea Navy ~ ROKS Cheonan

~ A moment of silence to the fallen.

This entry is to honor the fallen ROKS Cheonan seamen who perished on 26 March 2010.

ROKS Cheonan 772

As a military brat and a former Budak Boy (Putera) of the Royal Military College, Sungei Besi and Senior Under Officer cadet of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. I always admired and respect the soldiers/sailors/airmen of their respective armed forces.

To me, they have given their best years of their lives to protect and defend each of their own country from tyranny, for freedom and  that we are warmly tucked in our beds at night while they ensure our peace and sovereignty. 

Malaysia and South Korea relatively share the same history of being colonized by the Japanese Empire and fighting off communists which the former was successful in 1989 after the Malayan Communist Party surrendered officially after decades of fighting in the jungle. 

In this incident, the Republic of Korea's (South Korea) Navy was torpedoed and believed to be attacked by a mini submarine of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

The wreckage on the hull of the ship

I think it must have been a difficult time for ROK's Chief of Navy and the South Korean President to not to retaliate after having lost so many men in an unnecessary and unprecedented attack and provocation by the North to ROK's Navy. In my mind, the US Navy must have calmed the South Koreans from a full scale attack which is commendable in avoiding a war between the two nations.

It was a good exposure to the international participants to see and feel how uneasy and unstable it is for South Korea to develop its economy and as I vividly remember my boss, Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah, Director General of Public Service Malaysia and former Secretary General of Malaysia's Ministry of Defense, he said to Korea's President of the Central Officials Training Institute (COTI): 

"South Korea is an amazing country, you have to spend billions of dollars to improve your economy and the well being of your people, and at the same time you have to allocate your resources to defend your country and still be a developed nation."

Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah

JPA Malaysia

Director General of the Public Service
Malaysia

I guess that is one of the reasons I decided to pursue my postgraduate studies in Korea, to learn their fighting spirit, their endurance and their CAN DO spirit.

상등병 (Sangdeungbyeong) Able Seaman Kim, ROK Navy seaman in briefing session

I wish to also extend my appreciation to non-commissioned officer Able Seaman Kim of the ROK Navy for his steadfastness and time in explaining to us what actually happened at the night of 26 March 2010. For a regular service NCO, his English was good and a confident seaman he is, which I am sure that most Royal Malaysian Navy sailors are as good and confident as this seaman is.

To all 46 crew who perished - Your country mourns for their lost and I salute you.

~~~

Sinking of ROKS Cheonan

On the night of the sinking the U.S. and South Korea Navies were engaged in joint anti-submarine warfare exercises 75 miles away from the site of the sinking. This exercise was part of the annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle war exercise, described as "one of the world's largest simulated exercises", and involved many modern U.S. and South Korean warships.

Pohang Class corvette - ROKS Sinsung

On Friday, 26 March 2010, an explosion was reported to have occurred near the Cheonan, a Pohang-class corvette, near the stern of the ship at 9:22 pm local time. (12:22 pm GMT/UTC) This caused the ship to break in half five minutes afterward, sinking at approximately 9:30 pm (2130 hrs) local time about 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) off the south-west coast of Baengnyeong Island.

Inspection by ROK Navy and US Navy Admirals

Some initial reports suggested that the ship was hit by a North Korean torpedo, and that a South Korean vessel had returned fire, however the South Korean Ministry of Defense stressed in the first press briefings after the sinking that there was "no indication of North Korean involvement". Several theories have subsequently been put forth by various agencies as to the cause of the sinking. Early reports also suggested that South Korean Navy units had shot at an unidentified ship heading towards North Korea, however a defense official later said that this target may have been a flock of birds that were misidentified on radar.

The ship had a crew of 104 men at the time of sinking, and 58 crewmembers were rescued by 11:13 pm local time.The remaining 46 crew were presumably killed.

The stern of the Cheonan settled on its left side in 130 metres (430 ft) deep water close to the site of the sinking, but the bow section took longer to sink and settled overturned in 20 metres (66 ft) of water 6.4 kilometres (3.5 nmi) away with a small part of the hull visible above the water.