By MC2 Michael Ehrlich

Director of Naval History retired Rear Adm. Samuel Cox discusses his investigation of the sinking of the South Korean vessel Cheonan (PCC-722) during the latest Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture in King Auditorium, Oct. 6. Cox earned the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal for leading the multinational investigation into the incident.

"History is incredibly valuable to understanding what is going to happen in the future," said Cox. "But don't hang everything on it, because there's a first time for everything. In fact, those things that you're not expecting are what you should be looking for."

Cox described the process by which he and his fellow investigators determined the truth behind who sunk the Cheonan.

"We ruled out every submarine in the world except for one," said Cox. "Only one submarine that exists on the planet, that we know of, could have been at the scene of the crime."

According to Cox, that submarine was one of the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau's (RGB) Yono Class midget submarines. The RGB is responsible for covert operations involving reconnaissance, technology and cyber, overseas intelligence and inter-Korean talks.

"The [RGB] does traces, intelligence gathering, abductions of people around the world, assassinations and terrorist attacks," said Cox, who added that the RGB's resume didn't include torpedo attacks against their rival to the South, until the sinking of the Cheonan.