Book depicts life of military leaders

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee, second from right, patrols along a barbed wire fence near the border with North Korea, Wednesday. Military commentator Kim Jong-dae, in his new book "Desperate Generals," sheds light on the power struggle among military generals. / Yonhap

Cover of "Desperate Generals"
/ Courtesy of Medici Media

By Baek Byung-yeul

It is clear that the military has played an important part in Korea's modern history ― it cultivated a brilliant and respectable group of military leaders who sacrificed themselves to defend the country during the Korean War and Cold War.

Today, however, amid the rampant military corruption, many ask, "Does Korea still have good military leaders? In all seriousness, can we consider the incumbent generals as true patriots?"

Kim Jong-dae, who has been commenting on military issues for over two decades, attempts to answer those questions in his new book "Desperate Generals," in which he sheds light on how some military generals in the country, which is still in a quasi-state of war with the North, have been engaged in groupism and power struggle in his new book "Desperate Generals."

In the book, the former defense official for the Roh Moo-hyun administration and the chief editor of the monthly military magazine Defense 21 Plus, tells the story of past and present military generals based on his interview with them.

"I wrote about military generals' behaviors and ways of thinking in a bid to help readers to draw their own answers to the question of what kinds of generals this country needs because those generals are responsible for the public's safety and this country's defense," Kim writes.

For most of us ordinary people, nonfiction might be more interesting than well-researched fiction, as it balances the stories of high-ranking military powers we have known through the news and their never-before known stories.

Ranging from stories about the 2000 scandal involving Korean-American lobbyist Linda Kim, who reportedly had a romantic relationship with the then defense minister Lee Yang-ho to win a major arms contract, to retired officers' personal evaluations of former chiefs of staff of the ROK Army, the 30-chapter book reveals countless secrets of the military generals.

Using his background as a defense official, Kim provides the readers a real picture of the military, which he criticizes for behaving irresponsibly to maintain their dominance in the organization and for competing fiercely with each other for promotion.

In diagnosing the problems of the Korean military, Kim points out that there is no clear control system between the military and the defense ministry.

"While countries like the United States prohibit generals from becoming a defense minister, being a four-star general in Korea means having overcome the final hurdle to becoming a minister.

"The defense ministry exists to control the military on behalf of all people, but in Korea, the ministry has been ordering the military to regulate the public instead of the ministry," he writes, adding that the military cannot be a subject of the country's defense policy.

To establish more healthy military culture, Kim advises that the military should not only obey the commands of the political authority but also provide military advice to the government.

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