South Korea's defense minister says a recent attempt by South Korean naval authorities to hide the facts surrounding a recent stand-off against a North Korean vessel was due to fears that the nation's policymakers would overreact to the incident.
Minister Cho Young-gil said in a report to the National Assembly Saturday high-level military officials feared the government would instruct the navy to refrain from firing upon North Korean warships in the future.
Cho's statement, however, indicated that information about the incident had in fact been intentionally omitted, rather than by mistake, by the country's top military brass.
Cho said he believed such actions were "inappropriate" and that stern measures should be taken to hold tactical commanders responsible.
Last week, South Korea's navy said it fired two warning shots over a North Korean vessel after the target ship failed to respond to radio warnings while intruding into the South's territorial waters in the West Sea.
That statement was later found to be false, however, when the defense ministry confirmed the North had responded with at least three radio messages.