White Paper Slams Military Response to Cheonan Sinking

A candid white paper evaluating the South Korean military's response to the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan scheduled to be released on Friday was unveiled a day earlier since more people would read it if posted before the weekend. The Defense Ministry put the report on its website.

The report details the attack and response and evaluates the cause of the sinking, ensuing investigation and findings, treatment of victims and compensation, and the government's response and communication with the public.

The report was ordered by President Lee Myung-bak, supervised by the foreign affairs and security secretariat at Cheong Wa Dae and written by the Defense Ministry's Institute for Military History Compilation.

It points out various problems with the government's initial response to the Cheonan sinking that damaged public trust and led to a lot of confusion, suspicions and conspiracy theories. A probe by the Board of Audit and Inspection into the military's response led to the recommendation of punishment for 25 military officers, according to the report.

Although the military accused the auditors of ignoring the special circumstances surrounding the situation, the report says the military was told to humbly accept the criticism and look for ways to improve its performance.