천안함 침몰과 연평도 포격 그리고 국제형사법원

Abstract

There was an accident sinking of the Republic of Korea(ROK) Navy Ship called Cheonan(PCC-772, 1,200ton corvette) on 26 March 2010 in the territorial waters of the ROK 2.5km off the south-western coast of Baekryong Island, which resulted in the death of 46 military persons. Korea Government organized the Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group of the ROK with the participation of international experts from 4 countries(Australia, Sweden, UK, and USA), because of not knowing the reasons why Cheonan Navy Ship was sinking at that time. Based on material evidence obtained through scientific and objective investigation, it was determined that the sinking of Cheonan Navy Ship was caused by an underwater explosion by a torpedo made in North Korea after 55 days from the day occurred the accident. Of course, Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) totally rejected the investigation result and contended that the incident is a fabricated scenario, purely for the political and military purposes of the USA. There was an another accident on 23 November 2010 since the sinking of Cheonan Navy Ship. So called, DPRK fired on the Yeonpyeong Island about 170 shells without any lawful reasons. The Result was killed 2 marines and civilian of ROK respectively and injury of many others. The Office of the Prosecutor has received communications from a NGO(Non-Governmental Organization) alleging that DPRK forces committed war crimes in the territory of the ROK. Prosecutor of ICC(International Criminal Court), Luis Mereno-Ocampo, confirmed that the Office has opened a preliminary examination to evaluate if two incidents constituted war crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court. The author has examined whether the Prosecutor of ICC will request the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of the person responsible for war crimes. The Prosecutor of ICC has a right to do preliminary examination because ROK is a state party of ICC, and two accidents had occurred in the territory of ROK. But, after deep researching this topic, I can not apply the accident sinking of Cheonan Navy Ship on Rome Statue of international Criminal Court because this accident is not war crimes or crimes against humanity. The shelling of Yeonpyeong Island is not also satisfied with the requirement assessing gravity which importantly considers the number of victims of particularly serious crimes such as killing. Therefore, the Prosecutor of ICC can arrive a conclusion that the Rome Statute requirements to seek authorization to initiate an investigation in the accidents have not been satisfied at this stage.