All 21 crew members of the Korean-owned ship Samho Jewelry were freed by the Cheonhae Naval Unit, a Korean naval special forces’ raid on January 21st, six days after the ship had been hijacked by Somali pirates. The crew members were forced to change course of the ship, which had been sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka on January 15th. The pirates had requested a ransom for the crew and attempted to kill Seok Hae-gyun, the captain of the ship, who was shot in the stomach by one of pirates captured. During the raid, eight pirates were killed and the other five seized while 21 crew members, composed of eight Koreans, 11 Burmese, and two Indonesians, were rescued. Korea’s strong counteraction toward Somali pirates has had mixed reactions from Korean students at Chonnam National University.
Jung Seung-won (Junior, Dept. of Japanese Language and Literature) said, ”Most foreign countries including France, Germany, and the U.S. make it a rule to rescue hijacked crews militarily despite concerns for the safety of the crew. On the other hand, the Korean government used to engage in negotiations to barter for crew’s life. Such a capitulatory operation may have become the reason Somali pirates focused intensively on Korean ships as a target.” She added that the pirates did not provoke those tougher countries, even though they threatened to attack.
However, Lee Yeo-seol (Junior, Division of Plant Biotechnology) said, “I think that the military operation was reckless, and our government should have thought about safety of the crew. Some of them would have lost their lives because the government tried to push ahead with this reckless military operation without knowing how what the pirate forces were like. Because we had four casualties and the captain almost lost his life, she expressed the operation as “poorly planned” and added it is not right to praise the operation by publishing it in the press.
Hong Soon-gil (Junior, School of Economics) said, "The operation gained a positive response from the public as it is considered a strong gesture displaying the country’s national defense capabilities to inspire national pride. If the operation had failed, our country not only would have lost the lives of the crew and commandos but also drawn strong domestic criticism.” Also, he suggested more realistic measures supporting international activities of non-profit organizations and offering financial assistance to the Somali government.
Of course, it is true that many people would praise the operation for acting quickly and effectively because it was successful without any loss of life or casualties. However, the Korean government should have considered the safety of the crew to be a priority and taken emergency precautions. Also, I think the government has used the result of the operation as political strategy. Even though the outcome of "Dawn of Gulf of Aden” was praised as a perfect military operation which demonstrated the outstanding combat capability of our navy, CNUians now should consider how we should act if these situations occur again.
 
 
 
 
 
By Kim Eun-ji, Tribune Reporter
#307 National Issue
저작권자 © Chonnam Tribune 무단전재 및 재배포 금지