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S. Koreans in RI demand apology over Cheonan
Remembered together: Chairman of the Korean Association in Indonesia, Shin Kee-yup (right), unfurls a South Korean flag made of hand prints by the associationâs members and their children during a ceremony in Jakarta on Wednesday
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Remembered together: Chairman of the Korean Association in Indonesia, Shin Kee-yup (right), unfurls a South Korean flag made of hand prints by the associationâs members and their children during a ceremony in Jakarta on Wednesday. The ceremony commemorated the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan warship on March 26, 2010. (JP/Putera Hasudungan) (right), unfurls a South Korean flag made of hand prints by the associationâs members and their children during a ceremony in Jakarta on Wednesday. The ceremony commemorated the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan warship on March 26, 2010. (JP/Putera Hasudungan)
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span class="inline inline-none">Remembered together: Chairman of the Korean Association in Indonesia, Shin Kee-yup (right), unfurls a South Korean flag made of hand prints by the association's members and their children during a ceremony in Jakarta on Wednesday. The ceremony commemorated the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan warship on March 26, 2010. (JP/Putera Hasudungan)
South Koreans living in Indonesia have demanded an apology from North Korea over the 2010 sinking of the its warship, the Cheonan, which, although never proved, has been blamed on the North.
'Families of victims demand an apology from the North Korea and an end to its constant nuclear provocation,' chairman of the Korean Association in Indonesia, Shin Kee-yup, said on Wednesday.
Members of the association, with around 50,000 of them across Indonesia, gathered at the South Korean Embassy on Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the incident.
The Cheonan was a Pohang-class corvette of the South Korean Navy, whose hull was split in two after a mysterious explosion, killing 46 of the 110 people onboard the vessel while sailing through the Yellow Sea, just south of the disputed Baengyeong Island on March 26, 2010.
A team of international experts from South Korea, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and Sweden concluded that the warship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo.
North Korea has consistently denied the allegations, a view shared by China, while the results of a separate investigation carried out by Russia were different to that of the international community.
Shin said that South Koreans were willing to reunite with North Korea, however, he added that 'they are not ready because of the economic gap'.
He said that North Korea was an impoverished nation that needed to implement human rights.
'South Korea's GDP is US$25,000 per capita, and while we do not have an exact figure for North Korea, we estimate that it is about $1,000,' said the logistics entrepreneur who has been living in Indonesia for about 30 years and is now an Indonesian citizen.
'Indonesia's [GDP] is between $3,500 to 4,000.'
Shin added that the community was willing to strengthen relationships with Indonesia in campaigning for peace in the Korean peninsula.
He asked Indonesia to persuade North Korea to open economic relations with South Korea.
He claimed many North Koreans had fled to the South through China.
'We are ready for peace and reunification but North Korea has always threatened us by launching ballistic missiles, Shin said.
'We are ready for reunification and upbeat that economic development will be better, just like Germany after its reunification.' (put)
