Yoon, Han show unity in remembering fallen West Sea warriors

Politics

Published: 24 Mar. 2024, 18:27

Yoon, Han show unity in remembering fallen West Sea warriors

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, views a monument commemorating the victims of the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean warship torpedoed by North Korea in 2010, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Friday. Yoon attended a ceremony marking the 9th West Sea Defense Day, accompanied by aides and People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol warned that North Korea will "pay a larger price" if it carries out reckless provocations as he took part in a ceremony marking the 9th West Sea Defense Day in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Friday.

He earlier stopped by a monument to commemorate the victims of the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean warship torpedoed by North Korea in 2010.

On March 26, 2010, the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan sank in the Yellow Sea near South Korea's Baengnyeong Island following a North Korean torpedo attack, killing 46 sailors on board.

Yoon was accompanied by aides and People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon, attending the ceremony.

Amid signs of discord between Yoon and Han, the two former prosecutors were seen viewing the salvaged warship together Friday.

The two had reportedly clashed over presidential appointments and Han's choice of nominations for proportional representation seats for the April 10 general election.

In 2016, the government designated the fourth Friday of March every year as a day to commemorate three major clashes with North Korea in the West Sea near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border. They are to remember the 55 fallen personnel in the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002, the sinking of the Cheonan warship in 2010 and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon view a salvaged ship in a sign of political unity after attending a ceremony marking West Sea Defense Day at the Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Friday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]