(2nd LD) Military officials may face criminal charges over ship sinking: BAI chief

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byline)
By Shim Sun-ah and Kim Deok-hyun
SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) -- About a dozen military officials blamed for their
sloppy handling of a sunken warship could face criminal charges, the chief
auditor said Friday.
About 12 of the 25 military officers named by the Board of Audit and Inspection
(BAI) as deserving reprimand can be charged in addition to disciplinary measures,
the board's chairman Kim Hwang-sik told a parliamentary committee.
"But I think it would be appropriate to have the military investigators or the
Ministry of National Defense decide whether to file criminal charges, considering
the uniqueness of the military," he said.
More officers can be added on the list of those to be disciplined when the BAI's
probe is finished in about a month, he added.
The BAI released an interim report Thursday on its probe of how the military
dealt with the sinking of Cheonan, a South Korean warship, by a North Korean
torpedo attack. The auditing board recommended punitive measures against 25
senior officers, including Gen. Lee Sang-eui, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff (JCS), for mishandling the situation.
The BAI probe blamed the military for failing to take the necessary
countermeasures despite earlier intelligence on the possibility of the North's
torpedo attack. Also, the BAI criticized the military for delaying its initial
report on the sinking to top commanders and distorting key facts.
Admitting the findings of the BAI, the defense ministry said it will conduct a
major reshuffle of top commanders next week.
Lee was accused of being absent from the defense ministry's main command and
control center on the night of the North's torpedo attack in the Yellow Sea,
state auditors said.
He is also suspected of having manipulated an internal document to pretend that
he was present at the command and control center throughout the night of March
26, when the warship Cheonan sank, killing 46 sailors.
Instead, Lee slept at his office under the influence of alcohol before showing up
at the command and control center at 5 a.m. on the morning of March 27, BAI
officials said.
At the parliament Friday, the BAI chief told lawmakers that Lee did drink, but
not to the extent of having difficulty in working or making judgments. "He took
due necessary measures until around 1:40 a.m. before going to take a rest," he
added.
He answered "yes" when asked if Lee was with the Navy Chief of Staff at dinner,
where he allegedly drank several shots of whiskey with some 30 military officers
in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on the evening of March 26.
About one-and-a-half hours after the sinking was reported, Lee arrived at the
defense ministry's headquarters in Seoul, the state auditor said. After briefly
attending an emergency meeting led by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young for about 10
minutes, he slept in his office and returned to the military commander center at
dawn on March 27, they said.
Then, the top general manipulated a document to show that he ordered the military
to be put on high alert at the command center, according to the officials.
"At that time, Chairman Lee should have controlled the command center as the top
military officer because Defense Minister Kim Tae-young was attending a meeting
of security-related ministers" presided over by President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong
Wa Dae, one of the auditors said.
"But he returned to the command center around 5:00 a.m on March 27. And then he
fabricated a document as if he ordered an emergency alert as of 3:30 a.m., though
he slept at his office at the time," the official said.
Gen. Lee, asked if he would resign before the announcement of the BAI probe, said
it was up to President Lee to decide.
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