The remark of Donald Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to Korea, that "the South Korean government impeded the Cheonan probe of the Russian investigation team" is stirring up controversy over its authenticity.
On September 1st, Gregg wrote a newspaper column saying he "got a response from a trustworthy Russian friend" that the South Korean government is not disclosing Russian investigation results because "the results will do much political damage to [the South Korean] President Myung-bak Lee, and would embarrass President Obama". However, on September 4th, he said that "there is a possibility that the Cheonan incident might have been a mere accident", and that "the Russian investigation team was not allowed to access the evidence material from the Cheonan incident, and was not allowed to conduct related experiments. Therefore the Russian team failed to produce clear results." His remarks themselves contradict each other.
The September 1st remark refers to a Russian friend, but this "friend" is non-specific. It seems as if he tried to make it look like he was quoting a trustworthy source but was in fact just trying to put South Korea and U.S. in trouble. As Gregg's remarks continued, South Korean Ministry of National Defense refuted them with clear evidence. Now it seems like he is trying to quietly drop the case by saying that the Russian team did not conduct a valid investigation.
What is he trying to achieve by antagonizing U.S. and South Korea with his claim that the Korean civil-military joint investigation team may have rigged the investigation? Gregg is raising doubts about the Cheonan investigation, which has already produced clear results that were verified by the announcement of the U.N. statement. His remarks are no different from the senseless criticism of the pro-North Korean left wing parties that are not even worth discussing.
On September 1st, Gregg wrote a newspaper column saying he "got a response from a trustworthy Russian friend" that the South Korean government is not disclosing Russian investigation results because "the results will do much political damage to [the South Korean] President Myung-bak Lee, and would embarrass President Obama". However, on September 4th, he said that "there is a possibility that the Cheonan incident might have been a mere accident", and that "the Russian investigation team was not allowed to access the evidence material from the Cheonan incident, and was not allowed to conduct related experiments. Therefore the Russian team failed to produce clear results." His remarks themselves contradict each other.
The September 1st remark refers to a Russian friend, but this "friend" is non-specific. It seems as if he tried to make it look like he was quoting a trustworthy source but was in fact just trying to put South Korea and U.S. in trouble. As Gregg's remarks continued, South Korean Ministry of National Defense refuted them with clear evidence. Now it seems like he is trying to quietly drop the case by saying that the Russian team did not conduct a valid investigation.
What is he trying to achieve by antagonizing U.S. and South Korea with his claim that the Korean civil-military joint investigation team may have rigged the investigation? Gregg is raising doubts about the Cheonan investigation, which has already produced clear results that were verified by the announcement of the U.N. statement. His remarks are no different from the senseless criticism of the pro-North Korean left wing parties that are not even worth discussing.
