Text Fwd: Military believed N.Korean submarine was at shipyard during Cheonan incident 남한 군대, 북한 잠수함은 천안함 사건시 조선소에 있다 믿었음

Hankyoreh
Military believed N.Korean submarine was at shipyard during Cheonan incident
: Anti-submarine readiness was not raised as the submarine was believed to be undergoing trials inside the harbor
Oct. 23, 2010
By Kwon Hyuk-chul, Staff Writer

It has been revealed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff judged it a low possibility that a North Korean Yono-class submarine, which the Military-Civilian Joint Investigation Group (MCJIG) into the sinking of the Cheonan named as the vessel that sunk the South Korean warship, would infiltrate the West Sea as it was still undergoing trials prior to operational deployment.

During a parliamentary audit of the Defense Ministry on Friday, Grand National Party (GNP) Lawmaker Kim Dong-sung asked Defense Minister Kim Tae-young if it was true that at the time of the sinking, no order to be on guard for submarines was given because the Yono-class submarine, which had disappeared from its dock two days earlier, was not believed to be deployed as it was undergoing trials, meaning the possibility of an attack was low. Kim acknowledged that this was not incorrect. In an intelligence report on Feb. 8, the Join Chiefs of Staff reportedly judged that as of the end of last year, the Yono-class submarine was undergoing construction and fitting at a shipyard near Pyongyang.

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