Gyeongnam province has clarified its plan to look for the Turtle Warship of Admiral Lee Soon Shin. It is an ambitious plan to salvage the ship that may lie somewhere under the southern coast. The project, named "Finding the Turtle Warship" is one of the core matters of the Lee Soon Shin work project, which is to pay tribute to Admiral Lee’s patriotism and to develop the old battlefield into a tourist attraction. The reason that the province is so attached to the ship is on the judgment that the symbolism of the Lee Soon Shin project can possibly be maximized. Indeed, it is obvious that salvaging the vessel successfully would allow rapid growth in the awareness of Gyeongnam around the world.

However, the plan is controversial in several aspects. The heart of this project is the matter of whether or not the Turtle Warship is still submerged. Experts view that the ship cannot be preserved. The possibility of preservation is said to be rare considering the Turtle Warship was a wooden vessel with an ironclad exterior, as well as the weight of the guns on board. In other words, the logic is that it could be wrecked by Japanese guns, but could not be sunk. This is supported by the fact that the navy launched a salvage attempt for 10 years from 1987, but failed. Furthermore, the policy is to pay 9 billion won, 75% of the estimated cost for finding the Turtle Warship, to the shipbuilding industry.

The departure ceremony of the exploration team of the Turtle Warship is planned to be a national event with about 5,000 people participating. Criticism claims that no doubt they are implanting expectations in the people of Gyeongnam province, as well as of the country, with a display of administration while ignoring the possibility of actually salvaging the warship.

Gyeongnam province stands on the ground that they will march to the goal with a defiant attitude even if there is only a 1% possibility. The spirit for a challenge is a high value and a virtue. Nevertheless, the spirit on the project with 99% possibility for failure is no more than inconsiderate. The province should first distinguish the feasibility of the project by analyzing related historical materials and asking for a broad consultation with experts. Followed by that, it then needs to decide whether to progress on to the project of finding the Turtle Warship or to abandon the quest.

입력시간: 2006. 10.27. 08:14