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Investigators finally admit to using wrong torpedo blueprints
The Lee Myung-bak administration threatened to jail those who disagreed with government findings but after repeated inquiries have come to admit that the torpedo blueprint was indeed wrong
Hanopolis | 8:32am, Wed, Jun 30, 2010
When an international panel of investigators led by South Korea presented the conclusion of their findings in regards to the Cheonan sinking (May 20), not all were convinced. Among the many reasons, one was the apparent discrepancy between the actual torpedo and the NK torpedo blueprint presented by the panel. As at least one blogger pointed out, the two simply didn't match.
No matter. Dissenters were labeled traitors or threatened with jail for dissemination of "malicious" and "groundless information".
However, it now seems the government has egg on its face. Investigators finally admitted Tuesday that they had "mistakenly" shown the wrong blueprint of the "type of North Korean torpedo they said sank a South Korean warship when they announced their probe results in a nationally televised briefing last month", reported Yonhap.
How this is possible, we don't know, but it's a reminder that one should never completely trust government; if they are not being duplicitous then they are likely to be incompetent. And as bureaucrats are wont, the Korean government appears to be dismissing the episode as a "mistake" made by a "working level staff". Even so, how so-called "experts" failed to catch the mistake during the televised presentation (or soon afterwards) raises further questions about competency. Or if they did, why didn't they share it with the rest of us?
Purportedly, they did allegedly discover the error "after the press conference", Chosun Ilbo said. And during their presentation to the UNSC on June 14, the correct diagrams were apparently used.
According to Yonhap, "They [military investigators] said the life-sized blueprint shown at the news conference on May 20 was of a PT-97W torpedo, not the CHT-02D midget torpedo that sank the Cheonan warship.
"The investigators called the incident a 'mistake by a working-level staff.'
" 'As basic structures of the two torpedoes, CHT-02D and PT-97W, are the same, the working-level official had made a mistake,' said an official on the investigation team.
"Officials said the staff had picked the wrong blueprint when enlarging it to make it life-sized for the briefing.
"The admission came during a public briefing to a group of journalists and TV producers on the probe results, part of the government's ongoing efforts to dispel any doubts about the findings that blamed North Korea for the attack on Cheonan. A journalist had asked questions about the blueprint, according to people who were at the briefing. [...]
"The investigation team plans to present a final report on the Cheonan probe by the end of this month."
To be sure, when mistakes of this magnitude are made and errors are not disclosed in a timely manner but comes only after questions are raised by journalists, the government's efforts to dispel doubts appear to be as dead in the water as the Cheonan.
Dispelling doubts
"Investigators said they obtained information on the torpedo 'from North Korean publications and CDs,' adding they secured the materials through 'separate routes' ", Chosun Ilbo said. "The diagram was on a CD".
On why aluminum oxide but no gunpowder was found on torpedo fragments, they said "the propellant could have been pushed back and had no time to stick or it could have been washed away by currents under water."
Thirty-six out of 311 fragments from the Cheonan's hull contained traces of gunpowder and small amounts of gunpowder were found in just one out of 40 fragments that contained traces of aluminum oxide.
In regards to the "1 byeon" written on the torpedo, the team explained that according to analysis, the ink was made of an oil-based magic marker containing the ingredient Solvent Blue 5, a common marker ingredient. They believe the marker was probably imported though unfortunately the ink cannot be traced to the North definitively.
One journalist who attended the Tuesday briefing stated: "I was somewhat reassured by the scientific approach the team used to prove its point, and some of my suspicions have been resolved." But added, it was "not a satisfactory briefing since the team failed to offer a clear explanation regarding the column of water that was spotted and the twisted propeller."
The Lee Myung-bak administration threatened to jail those who disagreed with government findings but after repeated inquiries have come to admit that the torpedo blueprint was indeed wrong
Hanopolis | 8:32am, Wed, Jun 30, 2010
When an international panel of investigators led by South Korea presented the conclusion of their findings in regards to the Cheonan sinking (May 20), not all were convinced. Among the many reasons, one was the apparent discrepancy between the actual torpedo and the NK torpedo blueprint presented by the panel. As at least one blogger pointed out, the two simply didn't match.
No matter. Dissenters were labeled traitors or threatened with jail for dissemination of "malicious" and "groundless information".
However, it now seems the government has egg on its face. Investigators finally admitted Tuesday that they had "mistakenly" shown the wrong blueprint of the "type of North Korean torpedo they said sank a South Korean warship when they announced their probe results in a nationally televised briefing last month", reported Yonhap.
How this is possible, we don't know, but it's a reminder that one should never completely trust government; if they are not being duplicitous then they are likely to be incompetent. And as bureaucrats are wont, the Korean government appears to be dismissing the episode as a "mistake" made by a "working level staff". Even so, how so-called "experts" failed to catch the mistake during the televised presentation (or soon afterwards) raises further questions about competency. Or if they did, why didn't they share it with the rest of us?
Purportedly, they did allegedly discover the error "after the press conference", Chosun Ilbo said. And during their presentation to the UNSC on June 14, the correct diagrams were apparently used.
According to Yonhap, "They [military investigators] said the life-sized blueprint shown at the news conference on May 20 was of a PT-97W torpedo, not the CHT-02D midget torpedo that sank the Cheonan warship.
"The investigators called the incident a 'mistake by a working-level staff.'
" 'As basic structures of the two torpedoes, CHT-02D and PT-97W, are the same, the working-level official had made a mistake,' said an official on the investigation team.
"Officials said the staff had picked the wrong blueprint when enlarging it to make it life-sized for the briefing.
"The admission came during a public briefing to a group of journalists and TV producers on the probe results, part of the government's ongoing efforts to dispel any doubts about the findings that blamed North Korea for the attack on Cheonan. A journalist had asked questions about the blueprint, according to people who were at the briefing. [...]
"The investigation team plans to present a final report on the Cheonan probe by the end of this month."
To be sure, when mistakes of this magnitude are made and errors are not disclosed in a timely manner but comes only after questions are raised by journalists, the government's efforts to dispel doubts appear to be as dead in the water as the Cheonan.
Dispelling doubts
"Investigators said they obtained information on the torpedo 'from North Korean publications and CDs,' adding they secured the materials through 'separate routes' ", Chosun Ilbo said. "The diagram was on a CD".
On why aluminum oxide but no gunpowder was found on torpedo fragments, they said "the propellant could have been pushed back and had no time to stick or it could have been washed away by currents under water."
Thirty-six out of 311 fragments from the Cheonan's hull contained traces of gunpowder and small amounts of gunpowder were found in just one out of 40 fragments that contained traces of aluminum oxide.
In regards to the "1 byeon" written on the torpedo, the team explained that according to analysis, the ink was made of an oil-based magic marker containing the ingredient Solvent Blue 5, a common marker ingredient. They believe the marker was probably imported though unfortunately the ink cannot be traced to the North definitively.
One journalist who attended the Tuesday briefing stated: "I was somewhat reassured by the scientific approach the team used to prove its point, and some of my suspicions have been resolved." But added, it was "not a satisfactory briefing since the team failed to offer a clear explanation regarding the column of water that was spotted and the twisted propeller."
