South Korea will soon sign a joint operational plan with the United States to counter potential North Korean provocations and will hold regular joint exercises accordingly, the defense ministry said Wednesday.
In a report detailing its policy plans for 2012, the ministry said the joint counter-provocation plan between the allies is scheduled to be signed this month. Seoul and Washington agreed to it in principle at their annual defense ministerial talks, the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), in October last year.
"After completing our joint contingency plan, we will hold regular exercises together to establish a strong defense posture," the ministry said in a statement.
In a press briefing, Lim Kwan-bin, the deputy defense minister for policy, said the signing will reaffirm the allies' commitment to military preparedness.
"South Korea and the U.S. already hold major joint exercises such as Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Foal Eagle, in addition to smaller ones between strategic echelons," Lim said. "Once the joint operational plan is signed, we will engage in more exercises that will help us execute that plan. It will specify how such exercises should be held."
The ministry said this move is part of its efforts to stay alert and guarded against North Korean threats.
Korea is less than two years removed from the North's torpedoing of the warship Cheonan in the Yellow Sea. The deadly attack was followed by the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, also in the Yellow Sea, lying just south of the tense border. Fifty South Koreans, including two civilians, were killed in those provocations.
Seoul has also kept a close watch on the North's military following the death of its leader, Kim Jong-il, late last year. While the military here did not immediately raise its surveillance and combat alert levels, officials feared that Kim Jong-un, anointed as the new leader, could take military action early on to solidify his grip on the communist regime.
In other administrative plans for 2012, the ministry said it will exempt conscripts from paying interests on their income-contingent student loans. Such loans allow borrowers to repay their debts based on their earnings after they find employment. The ministry estimated that more than 25,000 former conscripts will qualify for this exemption.
According to the ministry, 14.2 billion won (US$12.4 million) has been allocated to cover the interest on such income-contingent loans. It said students on average take out 11.3 million won in loans with an average yearly interest of 552,000 won.
The ministry will also seek to grant conscripts interest exemptions on regular student loans during their service time. It said about 66,000 conscripts currently serving have taken out regular loans and would qualify for this benefit. The government will earmark 3.8 billion won to pay that interest, the ministry added.
Currently, when a college student joins the military after taking out loans, the government covers the interest during his service. The student must pay back the government in addition to any outstanding interest, starting one year after he is discharged.
Lim, the deputy defense minister, explained that the measure is designed to compensate young soldiers for their service to the country.
Soaring college tuitions have been a hot political and social issue in recent months as household debt and commodity prices have continued to rise.
In line with establishing and maintaining preparedness, the ministry said it will seek to further eliminate bureaucracy within the armed forces and make them more combat-ready.
The drive to root out bureaucratic practices in the military began after the North's attack on the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island. The military was criticized for its slow and weak responses to those provocations.
The ministry also said the military is on schedule for a smooth transition of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul in 2015.
"We are about halfway through in our preparation for the transfer," the ministry said. "This year will be the final year of our first phase, during which we will try to lay the foundation for the transfer by reorganizing our command structure. During the second stage, we will try to attain core military capabilities, such as intelligence gathering, precision strikes and detecting ballistic weapons."
After being briefed about the defense ministry's plans, President Lee Myung-bak stressed the importance of national security, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
"To stabilize inflation and create jobs, strong national security must come first," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Jeong-ha quoted Lee as saying. "For this year, we must establish robust preparedness."
According to the spokesman, the president also called for the defense reform for stronger and more efficient armed forces.
"The defense reform must be pursued with firm conviction," Lee was quoted as saying. "The transfer of the wartime operational control is crucial and the reform of our military must be carried out in perfection."
The reform plans center on making the military's command structure more efficient, giving the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff more power to control the Army, Navy and Air Force, so that they can better respond to North Korean provocations.
The Cabinet approved a set of defense reform bills in May last year and sent them to the National Assembly for approval. No major progress has been made there since.
A defense ministry official told reporters Lee lamented that the reform bills were not enacted last year and said he hoped they would pass the parliament as soon as possible. (Yonhap)