A year ago on March 26th, 46 South Korean sailors lost their lives when their ship, the Cheonan, was attacked by a missile shot by the North Korean army. Although North Korea still claims innocence over that incident, I strongly believe they are only playing the victim, as they always do.
I remember, I was still in Korea and was devastated by the news. As I had been in a relationship with a guy who ended up going to the army (not the navy) I can only imagine the pain one would feel upon hearing that her boyfriend, or son, or husband, died at sea, from a North Korean attack. The pain, the desperation, they would haunt me for months. These 46 lives represent 46 families, 46 groups of friends…This is probably the drama of more than a thousand persons. As everyone in South Korea knows someone who is in the army, this incident shook up the entire nation. In South Korea, military service is mandatory for about 2 years. Any healthy man must go unless he’s got a really good reason (or some really good contacts). It is very sad that they had to die while doing a work that, although they didn’t disagree with, they didn’t choose to do…it was forced upon them for most of them, because of their sex and because there is a crazy dictator living a few kilometres north from them.
Let’s take a moment today to remember the lives of these 46 sailors who right now would have mostly all finished their military service and would be making others happy…
