<영문자료> LAST WITNESS OF KAL 007(1)

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FACTS OF INCIDENT TRACKED DOWN BY REPORTER CHO, GAB JE TITLE : LAST WITNESS OF KAL 007 In criticism of Seymour Hersh's misrepresentations, and, Park, Yong Man, Captain of 015, first testimony of Captain Park, Yong Man and his inference of fate's companion. Well-known contemporary reporter Hersh says Captain Chun left his pilot post for five hours. U.S. said it did not know of 007's flight path deviation at the time. Is it true? Captain of 015, Captain Park, opens his mouth on companion 007's fate after three years. "Captain Chun kept his post, and the U.S. knew. But 007 flew silently. What is the mystery of 007's last conversation on that night in the night sky on the Northern Pacific? Last witness of 007 reveals the truth. By Cho, Gab Je, researcher for Modern History Institute of Chosun Daily Newspaper. Fateful relationship of Park, Yong Man and Chun, Byung In 4 : 00 A.M.(local time Korea time is 10:00 P.M. of the 31st) August 31, 1983, a jumbo Flight 007 takes off from Anchorage, Alaska. Fourteen minutes later, Flight 015 of same Korean Air Lines takes off the ground headed for the night sky. Both aircrafts were to take the same routes(R-20) to Seoul. Nobody could have guessed that Flight 007 had left the ground never to return again. Park, Yong Man(age 57, resides in Sang-do-dong, Seoul), along with Captain Chun, Byung In of Flight 007 had spent the night at the Korean Air Lines residence (apartment) in downtown Anchorage, and arrived together at the airport at approximately 3:00 A.M.(local time). There he met Captain Chun(then age 45) and Captain An, In Soo in the lobby. Captain An had just finished his duty and was scheduled to return to Korea as a passenger on Flight 007. Captain Park shouted "Hey, An, In Soo! Wanna come onboard my plane?" Captain An who was a junior alumni smiled back and replied, "Oh, hyung-nim(meaning older brother used with close acquaintances), I miss my wife and I want to get home soon." Boarding announcement for Flights 007 and 015 came out almost simultaneously this day. Watching Captains An and Chun heading for their departure gates, Captain Park went on his way to his own departure gate. This was the last time he saw both junior alumnis alive. Captain Park exchanged no conversation with Captain Chun, who was usually a quiet person. The most important conversation between Captain Park and Chun was to take place later in the night sky of the North Pacific. Park, Young Man, born in Pyung Yang, entered the Army Aviation College in 1948 to receive his aviation training. As the Air Force was separated and the Air Force Academy was formulated, Park became in instructor teaching the cadets. During the Korean war, Park became a Mustang fighter pilot and recorded 170 missions. As a Korean, Park is third in all-time and first among living pilots to have this many missions flown. Mustang which were run by propellers, were well known for its difficulty to maneuver and the frequency of accidents that it earned a nickname as "widowmaker." Park is the holder of one thousand hours Mustang flight time without a single accident. Until he retired from the Air Force in December of 1967, Park had flown F-86 Sabre Fighters as well as Mustangs. His combat flight time is three thousand hours(13,000-hours if including flight time with Korean Air Lines). In 1962, Park taught advanced aviation training in Taegu. He was a squadron leader as a lieutenant colonel. It was around this time that Park first met Chun, Byung In. a graduate of pilot academy, Chun was receiving training as a lieutenant. His squadron commander said "I hear that Lieutenant Chun's pilotry is outstanding, why don't you try him out." Lieutenant Colonel Park, who rode on the T-33 training craft was awed by Lieutenant Chun's outstanding maneuvers. He recalls that Chun had left a greater impression on him because he was a graduate of the Kyungki High School. Park, who had received the Ulchi Order of Military Merit twice retired from the Air Force as a Colonel after serving as a Deputy Commander of a combat aviation battalion. After running his own business, he joined Korean Air Lines in January of 1972. Since retired generals did not join Korean Air Lines as pilots, he had the most seniority in military background among active pilots. Chun, also retiring after 10 years of military service, joined Korean Air Lines on the same day, becoming colleagues of fate. Park went through the pain of having to resettle himself beneath his junior alumnis form the military, and operated F-27 Fokker, Boeing 707 and the Boeing 747 in succession. In 1979 he advanced to the rank of Captain of a Boeing 747. Chun became Captain of a Boeing 747 in 1981. During the process of achieving Captain of a jumbo aircraft, Park once again became Chun's instructor in the training. It was through this sequence of relationship that Chun felt much difficulty in approaching his senior colleague. Chun even found it hard to smoke in front of Park. 'Final witness' breaks silence On the fateful evening, 007 and 015 exchanged conversation several times during their flight from Anchorage to Seoul. Approximately 1 hour and 34 minutes after take-off, 11:34 Korean standard time, co-pilot Son, Dong Hui of 007 contacted co-pilot of 015 and asked that he relay a position report back to Anchorage. Whether it was due to a malfunction of 007's HF radio, 007 could not communicate with Air Traffic Control Center at Anchorage. The position report relayed by 015 was that 007 was over NABIE at 14:32(Greenwich Standard Time, 11:2 Seoul time), and that expected time of arrival at NEEVA was 15:49. Seemingly to have an improved operation of its radio, 007 contacted Anchorage directly 9 minutes later, and changed its previous position report, and said its expected time of arrival at NEEVA was 15:45 which was 4 minutes later than the previous report. 01:00 A.M.(Korean Standard Time) September 1st, co-pilot of 015 again relayed a position report for 007 to Anchorage. The message was that 007 had passed NEEVA at 15:58 (00:58 Korea Time). Captain Park, who was sitting next to the co-pilot, was startled after listening to his co-pilot relay the message for 007. 007's time at NEEVA was 9 minutes behind the initial reported time and 5 minutes behind the changed expected arrival time. Such a time discrepancy within one single section was not possible. Park ordered his co-pilot to ask for reason for such a discrepancy. In response to questioning from co-pilot of 015, Son, Dong Hui, co-pilot of 007 stalled for a while and then replied "headwind is strong." Approximately 10 minutes later, Captain Park personally contacted Captain Chun on the company's own frequency. "Why are you late?" "Strong headwinds sir." Captain Park then replied, "Is that so? It's okay here." Then Chun responded, "The wind is strong sir." Park vividly recalls Chun's remarks as being short and ending conversation immediately after these words. "Since 007 left 14 minutes ahead of us, and was running 9 minutes late, the calculation should mean that, 007 was directly in front of us. So, hoping to visually locate the lights of 007, I searched through the cockpit windows for a while." At this moment, 007 was over 300 kilometers to the North of regulation flight path over the Bering Sea and headed directly from Kamchatka Peninsula. Captain Park, after talking to Captain Chun, did not get a second opportunity to talk to Captain Chun during the 2 hours and 20 minutes until 007 was downed. "The wind is strong sir," had become Chuns's last will. Captain Park found out about the accident as he was approaching Hokkaido. He overheard Japanese ground control repeatedly calling out for 007. Ground control asked 015 to also attempt to contact 007. This is when Captain Park, recalling his earlier conversations with Captain Chun, thought to himself that this was very serious problem. When false reports came out that morning claiming that 007 had been forced to land on Sakhalin, Captain Park did not easily believe this because of the ominous feeling he had. As the person nearest to 007 and being the last witness of 007, Captain Park had been the target of reporters and investigators national and international, right after the accident. They believed that since he was the Captain of 015, which had been flight along with 007 and had several conversations, he had the keys to this mystery and was trying to hide them. The 007 victim's relatives and their attorneys tried hard to bring him before U.S. Courts. Last September 1st, the third commemoration of the 007 disaster, relatives of the victims wrote an article in the International Tribune questioning why the Captain of 015 suddenly disappeared directly before being questioned by the Courts. Captain up to the end did not reveal his conversations with Captain Chun. But, Park has finally broken that silence. He not only disclosed to me the contents of his conversations with Captain Chun, but also, his own theories about 007's deviation from course. It will be explained much more in detail later on but, the short conversation between Captain Park and Chun would become the most important clue to solving the 007 mystery. The weight of Captain Chun's last words will be continuously attacked even in the future. Although it has the title of a theory, but considering that Park is all too familiar with the habits of Korean Air Lines pilots and knows Chun personally very well, and also was nearest to the place of accident and that he is a veteran pilot, his theory of 007's deviation is not easily challenged by other 007 theories. Hersh's point : Shift of Captain's post During my silence, all kinds of silly articles poured out. Spying mission theory, shortcuts for saving fuel and the like are all easily laughed at by Korean Air Lines pilots. After reading Seymour Hersh's "Target Has Been Destroyed" I was even more disappointed since his research was supposed to have been the most detailed and accurate of all theories. Cause of course deviation according to Hersh is owed to Chun's frequent absence from his point and his wandering to the passenger sections which is a totally groundless speculation. While doing this, Hersh further defends the U.S. for not giving proper warning. It was my opinion that there was fault on the side of the crew but to be nailed with such outrageous allegations was unjustified. If criticism is to be effective, the criticism should be a correct one. To rectify many of the misunderstandings about the 007 incident, I feel it is time for me to speak. Park, Yong Man quit Korean Air Lines in December of 1984 and is currently living a relatively stable post-retirement lifestyle. The author for the past two years, with the understanding that it would not be publicized, discussed on many occasions issues regarding the 007 incident. We read and criticize the misrepresentations appearing in books and articles published abroad. Park first began considering publication of his knowledge after Hersh's September "Target Destroyed" was epitomized in the Japanese Art and Literature, Spring and Autumn magazine in November. Hersh, at 49 years of age, is a legendary journalist who specializes in expose journalism. In 1969, he received the Pulitzer Award for fueling anti-war movements with his probe into the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. In 1975, he sparked a congressional investigation into CIA's operations in chile and their illegal surveillance of individuals in the U.S. through his expose. The fact that such a devoted journalist had set off to investigate the 007 incident brought hope to many. While digging into confidential materials of the National Security Agency (NSA) which operates one of the worlds largest electronic surveillance networks, he also flew to the Soviet and had long interviews with Chief of Staff Ogarkoff and Far East Air Force Commander, Marshal Kilsanoff. Several months before his book became published, Casey, the CIA director, became involved and warned that his book might possible reveal national secrets and again gained public attention. This book discloses four theories which were based upon the vast information gathered by the journalist for two years. First, is that the Soviet Air Force misidentified 007 for a U.S. Air Force Reconnaissance Craft RC-135 and shot it down. Second, is that the U.S., with confirmation of this information, knowingly and successfully turned worldwide anger against the Soviets by alleging that "the Soviets shot the plane down with the knowledge that it was a civilian aircraft." Third, is that the U.S. did not know of 007's course deviation at that time. Fourth, is that Captain Chun had made a mistake in operating the Inertial Navigation System (INS) and frequently deserted his post neglecting his duty of inspecting the INS and did not even know that he was over Sakhalin and Kamchatka. Could not hear Captain Chun's voice It may be concluded that the core of the 007 mystery is "why it deviated from flight path?" Hersh attempted to come up with an answer by bringing fourth the veteran pilot Harold Ewing. Ewing, whenever flying the Anchorage-Far Eastern course, had used the back-up INS to conduct may experiments, and in completing the experimental theory, presented this report to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This assumption departs from the point that flight engineer Kim, Eui Dong when punching the check point coordinates into the INS, committed the error of punching in the wrong take-off coordinates. Kim, when putting in the take-off coordinates, that is, the coordinate for Anchorage Airport, mistakenly punched in 139 degrees instead of 149 degrees into the numerical buttons for the Captain. Kim, then punched in the correct coordinates into the co-pilot's INS. Then the warning light came on. This was because the longitudes for the Captain's co-pilot's INS's were different. But, Kim misjudged the lighted warning light as showing an error in punching in the coordinates into the co-pilot's INS after which he compared the coordinates he was holding in his hands and found that the coordinates were correct. He then deduced that the error was in the warning light itself and resolved the problem by pressing the off switch. Correct coordinates had been fed into the flight engineer's INS. According to regulation, the captain, co-pilot and flight engineer must all review the take-off coordinates. But, the assumption is that the crew of 007 omitted this duty and took off. Two minutes after take-off of the jumbo 007, Anchorage air control ordered to "head straight for Bethel." Then the Captain would turn the auto-control switch to INS mode and turn on the INS and at the same time punch in Bethel as the next checkpoint and head straight for Bethel. But, it is Ewing's assumption that Captain Chun did not follow the directives given by Anchorage air control. He claims Captain Chun to be a very devoted fuel saver. He ignores the directive to head for Bethel, and designates a point on the R-20(which is somewhere between Bethel and NABIE) and calculating the coordinates, punches in the Captain's INS for that point instead of Bethel. It is another assumption of Ewing that Captain Chun committed again another error. He punched in the right latitude but kept Bethel's coordinates. Chun, not knowing that the Captain's INS was mis-coordinated and also that the first check point was mis-punched, hooked up the Captain's INS with the auto-pilot thus leaving the flight up to the problematic INS. This INS flew 007 to a wrong location guided by a "fabricated take-off point", which is 300 aeronautical miles an 10 degrees in longitude to the east of actual take-off place (Anchorage). Ewing further claims that, even so, if Captain Chun had kept his post and observed the INS, he would have the aircraft veering towards the north. But, Captain Chun only went as far as to head 007 for shortest route to the first check point and then left his Captain's post for the aircraft to take the regulation course which had already been punched in. This is how Hersh wrote. "As a senior officer of Korean Air Lines, there was something Captain Chun should have done. Captain Chun came over to the passenger compartment and greeted foreign dignitaries especially, House member McDonald. There were six Korean Air Lines employees sitting in the first class area. The ICAO investigation committee sees it as Captain Chun spending the majority of the five hours in this area. This is because his voice was never heard over the radio. If he had been at his post, it is impossible for him not to know of the deviation. It would not have been possible for the co-pilot and flight engineer to catch the error with the captain's INS which was actually piloting the aircraft because their respective INS's were punched in correctly.