자랑스러운 대한 건아들의 수만리 떨어진 해역에서의 완전한 임무수행 이행에 우선 마음속 깊은 곳으로 부터 찬사를 보내지 않을수 없었다.
그동안 여러차례, 남북간의 대치 상황에서 일방적으로 밀리기만 하고, 인명피해까지 당하면서도 이에 상당한 대응을 못하고, 말로만 응징 하겠다고 허공에 대고 떠들어 댔던, 지도자들의 마음 자세가 문제였지, 명령이 떨어지면 한치의 착오도 없이 임무를 수행낼수 있는 우리 대한의 건아들로 구성된 군인들의 전술과 정신력은 세계 어느나라의 군대에 비교해서 손색이 없이 항상 준비를 해오고 있었음을 이번의 "아덴만의 여명"이라는 작전명으로, 소말리아 해적들에게 납치되여 해상을 헤매고 있던 우리고국의 상선과 선원들을 거의 완벽한 작전으로, Pirates들을 소탕하고, 납치됐던 전선원을 구출하여 고국의 가족품에 무사히 안기게 해준, 그 작전의 치밀함과 용맹성에 우리 고국의 국민은 물론이고 전세계가 경이를 표하는 쾌거를 올린, 이번 사건의 기사를 보면서, 고국과 후배 군인들이 더욱 자랑스럽게, 믿음직 스럽게 내 가슴속 깊이 자리매김 하고 있다.
이번 기회를 통해서, 국가를 운영하는 위치에 있는, 특히 여 야당의 정치꾼들을 포함한, 지도자들은 깊이 각성하고 반성해야 한다고 믿는다.
국민들의 세금으로 장시간의 고된 훈련과 정신무장으로 단련되여 있는 후배 군인들의 늠름한 모습이, 이를 지휘하는 지도자들의 무능과 결단력 부족으로 빛을 발하지 못하고, 더불어서 같이 국민들의 지탄을 오랫동안 받아 오기만 했었음은 대한민국 국민이면 다 같이 가슴 아프게 느끼면서 오늘까지 속앓이를 해 왔었던 현실이라고 믿는다. 그러한 불신을 이번에 대통령의 결단과 이를 충실히 따르고 이행한 후배 군인들의 군사 행동이 깨끗히 씻어 내고도 남았다.
이러한 일치 단결한 상하의 행동이 앞으로도, 위기에 처했을때, 속전속결의 결단으로 이행된다면, 그동안 고국 남한을 귀찮게 굴었던 이북의 김정일 집단도 함부로, 망나니들이나 하는 말썽을, 부리기전에 다시한번 생각을 하면서 경거망동을 못하게 하는 경종과 표본을 보여주는 상황을 확실히 보여 주었다고 믿고 싶다. 앞으로 며칠후에 남북간의 군사예비회담이 열릴것이라고 고국의 언론이 발표 했는데, 마음이 놓이지 않는다. 제발 그들의 계략에 더이상 넘어가서는 안된다. 이는 귀중한 시간을 국토방위를 위해 헌신하고 있는 후배 군인들에 대한 모욕이기 때문이다.
현명한 결단과 해법을 도출해 내어, 김정일 집단에게 "아덴만의 구출작전" 처럼 본떼를 보여 주는 군사예비회담이 됐으면 하는 마음이다. "보석이 서말이라도 꿰어야 그진가를 발휘된다"라는 속담을 지도자들은 귀 기울여 들을 필요가 있음을 마음깊이 새기시기를 바랜다.
아래 기사는 이번 작전을 지켜본 New York Times의 기사 내용인데, 여기에 옮겨왔다
South Korea Rescues Crew and Ship From Pirates
South Korean Navy, via Associated Press
South Korean naval special forces guarded Somali pirates after detaining them on the South Korean cargo ship Samho Jewelry in the Arabian Sea on Friday. More Photos »
By SU-HYUN LEE and KEVIN DREW
Published: January 21, 2011
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean special forces staged a daring early morning rescue on a hijacked freighter hundreds of miles off the coast of Somalia on Friday, killing eight pirates and rescuing all 21 hostages, the South Korean military said.
President Lee Myung-bak, who was sharply criticized last year over what was deemed a weak response to the sinking of a warship and the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island, reaffirmed his country’s tough stance against pirates and appeared pleased with the operation in a televised statement.
“We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future,” Mr. Lee said.
Rescue operations on hijacked ships are rare, with countries often deciding against such attempts over concerns for the safety of the crew. Most shipping companies, in turn, opt to pay the expensive ransoms demanded by Somali pirates to release hijacked ships rather than engage in confrontations.
The rescue began at 5 a.m. Friday, when a special forces team from a South Korean destroyer piled into a small vessel and approached the hijacked ship as the destroyer provided cover, according to the military. The commandos then confronted the pirates, who were armed with AK-47s, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, in a battle that lasted five hours.
Three South Korean soldiers were wounded, the military said, and the hijacked ship’s captain, a South Korean, was shot in the abdomen, but his injuries were said not to be life-threatening. The entire crew was then brought to safety.
The 11,500-ton freighter, the Samho Jewelry, was traveling to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates last Saturday when it was seized by the pirates about 800 miles off the coast of northeast Somalia.
The South Korean government dispatched a naval destroyer on antipiracy patrol to track the ship. South Korea, like other nations, patrols the waters off Somalia since the increase in pirate attacks in recent years.
While the pirates held the 21-person crew — including 8 South Koreans, 2 Indonesians and 11 citizens of Myanmar — they simultaneously began using the large cargo ship as a base to try further attacks on nearby ships.
The standoff between the destroyer and the pirates lasted several days, with the South Korean military sending messages ordering the pirates to surrender.
A South Korean military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said while the operation to free the hostages was not free of risk, the military had confidence it would succeed because “the pirates were exhausted” after the long standoff.
“The decision to carry out the operation was made to send a message that there will not be any negotiation with the pirates,” the official said.
The Samho Jewelry was the second vessel of South Korea-based Samho Shipping to be hijacked in the past several months. In November, Somali pirates freed the supertanker Samho Dream and its 24 crew members after seven months of captivity.
In a similarly risky antipiracy operation in April 2009, snipers with the Navy Seals rescued an American cargo ship captain, killing three of his Somali captors.
In 2010, pirates increased their attacks for the fourth straight year, taking more hostages than in any year on record, according to an annual report on piracy. The Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau said pirates had taken 1,181 people hostage and killed 8 in attacks on 445 ships last year. At least 53 ships were hijacked last year, the bureau said.
The waters off Somalia remain the most hazardous for vessels, according to the organization. Ninety percent of ship seizures occurred there last year. By the end of last year, at least 28 vessels with 638 hostages were being held for ransom.
On the same day of the successful South Korean rescue, two other ships were captured by pirates off Somalia, Reuters reported. The European Union Naval Force for Somalia said a Syrian-owned vessel flying Togo’s flag and a Mongolian-flagged vessel with a Vietnamese crew were seized.
Su-Hyun Lee reported from Seoul, South Korea, and Kevin Drew from Hong Kong. J. David Goodman contributed reporting from New York.
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