The death of a 34-year-old Coast Guard officer during a water rescue last week has laid bare operational loopholes and safety lapses within the service, prompting leadership shake-ups and a presidential order for external investigations.
On Tuesday, the Korea Coast Guard announced that Incheon Coast Guard Chief Lee Gwang-jin had been removed from his position, following criticism over the response to the fatal accident near Ggot Island in Ongjin, Incheon.
The Coast Guard stated Tuesday that two other officials — the chief of Yeongheung Station and an on-duty team leader of the Incheon Coast Guard — were also removed from their positions and placed on standby.
The measures come after a fatal incident in the early hours of Sept. 11, when 34-year-old Sgt. Lee Jae-seok drowned while rescuing an elderly Chinese man from rising waters on a tidal flat. It was reported that Lee was dispatched alone, though six officers were on duty at the time, and that he had requested backup before entering the water alone, but no reinforcements were sent.
It was also revealed Tuesday that nearly 40 minutes elapsed before proper rescue equipment was deployed after Lee went missing. Radio transcripts show that officers on the scene struggled to find the keys to a patrol vehicle containing vital equipment and debated how to transport a powered surfboard — a device capable of high-speed mobility in shallow waters.
Criticism has mounted toward the Incheon Coast Guard since then for violating multiple regulations, including its failure to comply with regulations requiring at least two officers to be dispatched for such emergency operations.
Adding to the controversy, Lee’s colleagues alleged at a press conference held Monday that their station chief had ordered them to stay silent about the circumstances of the accident, saying the fallen officer should be remembered as a “hero.”
Further revelations from Lee’s colleagues on Monday showed that duty logs were falsified to obscure irregular rest hours.
While official records stated officers were resting in three-hour shifts, Lee’s colleagues testified that they had been ordered to rest for six hours at a time, leaving Lee to respond to the emergency alone. The discrepancy has since fueled suspicions that the station sought to avoid accountability for breaching rules on minimum staffing and rest-hour overlap, deepening questions over systemic lapses within the Coast Guard.
Meanwhile, a fact-finding panel of six external experts under the Central Regional Coast Guard suspended its activities after President Lee Jae Myung instructed the investigation into the fatal accident to be “entrusted to an independent external organization” for a “strict and thorough inquiry.”
The fact-finding team had been led by the chief of the Korea Maritime Safety Association and included officials from the Incheon Metropolitan Police, the Incheon Fire Department as well as legal experts and scholars in related fields.
“For now, the fact-finding panel will remain on standby,” said the Korea Coast Guard. “It has not yet been decided which specific organization will carry out the investigation.”
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
