Remembering Major Yun Yeong-Ha

At least someone besides USFK remembers the sacrifice of Major Yun Yeong-ha and his men during the West Sea naval clash between North and South Korea back in 2002. The naval battle was a pre-meditated ambush and murder of these sailors by the North Koreans that was alledgedly order by Pyongyang in order to draw attention away from the World Cup that was happening in South Korea at the time.

The South Korean government has done everything possible to cover up this ambush and make excuses for the North Koreans in order to keep the Sunshine Policy going. In fact the government has boycotted memorial services held by the navy to remember the six murdered sailors:

A remembrance celebration to mark the second anniversary of the battle was held yesterday at the headquarters of the Naval 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, with 150 people including victims¿ families participating. However, the event was dismally lonely, and more distressing, the bereaved families despairingly poured out questions in full cry to this society and the government.

Did the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea launched an investigation to find out facts as it does now when the West Sea naval battle broke out? Who apologized for the death of our boys? People, irrespective of rank, have been successively rushing to deliver condolence for a man who went to a foreign country to earn money and died there. But who went to the funeral services of the six sailors who sacrificed their lives for the nation? Even the Defense Minister and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as government officials did not attend the services.

Here is a sample of how angered the families of these sailors have been towards the Korean government:

Kim Jong-seon, the widow of Petty Officer Han Sang-guk, who was killed in a June 2002 naval battle with North Korea in the West Sea, turned her back on her homeland Sunday and boarded a flight bound for the United States. Before getting on her flight, she said, ¿If the indifference and inhospitality shown to those soldiers who were killed or wounded protecting the nation continue, what soldier will lay down his life in the battlefield?¿

In the battle on June 29, 2002 — one day prior to the closing ceremony of the Korea-Japan World Cup — six sailors were killed and 18 wounded when a North Korean patrol boat that had crossed over the northern line of control ambushed a South Korean naval vessel. The bereaved have spent the last three years in an atmosphere where it was difficult to even grieve. Nervous government officials, worrying that the incident might cast a pall over the Sunshine Policy, even warned the families to please be quiet.

(…..)

The father said, ¿My son is buried in the National Cemetery. But I¿m going to take my son¿s remains to my family burial site in my hometown.¿ Having watched the situation develop, he thought his son who was killed by North Korean soldiers was considered nothing more than a criminal. Some parents said that they are more scared of people who consider the U.S. a bigger enemy than North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who killed their son. We lose courage to defend the country, when we hear that a wife whose husband fell in the battle is preparing to leave this country. Reading a condolence letter from the USFK commander to mark the second anniversary, the wife said, “The Americans remember my husband and his brothers-in-arms better than Koreans… Frankly, I hate Korea.”

The treatment of the families and the appeasement of North Korea after the murder of these sailors was the first indications of how poor a government the Roh Moo-hyun administration was going to be. Plus this incident is a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the Korean leftists. They have been protesting for years over the USFK tactical vehicle traffic accident that tragically killed two Korean girls despite compensation to the families and apologies up and down the chain of command to include President Bush himself over the accident. Yet not one word muttered against North Korea by these people when they murder six South Korean sailors.

At least the ROK Navy has the intestinal fortitude to remember the sacrifices of these sailors. The ROK Navy has been the ones holding the annual ceremony marking the anniversary of the attack plus they have recently named one of their newest destroyers after the senior officer killed in the clash, Major Yun Yeong-ha.

The ROK naval destroyers are only named after great Korean patriots (Hat tip: reader):

All Ahn Yong-Bok class destroyers are named after Korean patriots. The first vessel destroyer was recently named Ahn Yong-Bok (Hangul:¿¿¿) after a Korean patriot who protested over Tokugawa Shogunate‘s repeated claim over Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima) and made Tokugawa Shogunate confirm in writing that Liancourt Rocks were Korean possessions. The second destroyer is to be named Ji Deok-Chil (Hangul:¿¿¿), after Staff Sergeant Ji Deok-Chil, who sacrificed his life to save his comrades during the Vietnam war. The third unit is to be named Yun Yeong-Ha (Hangul:¿¿¿), after Major Yun Yeong-Ha who fell in line of duty during a skirmish between the Republic of Korea Navy force and North Korean Navy. The fourth destroyer is to be named for General Yi Sabu of Silla dynasty of Korea, who subjugated Usan-Guk (present-day Ulleung-do) by employing brilliant naval tactics. The fifth and sixth destroyers are yet to be named.

I wonder how this got by the Blue House? To bad all six destroyers weren’t named after all six of the deceased sailors.