Make armed forces stronger with up-to-date weaponry
South Korea is still technically at war, with the North ceaselessly threatening peace in this part of the world by its continuing development of nuclear weapons. The Moon Jae-in government, however, is determined to reduce the number of South Korean troops to half a million from the current 600,000. The provocative North maintains a force of 1.2 million soldiers.
The Ministry of National Defense is also planning to shorten the compulsory military service period to 18 months from the present 21 months, while the North's is 12 years at the longest. Israel, beleaguered by enemies, holds fast to a three-year mandatory service for men and two years for women.
The plan to reduce troops and shorten the period of service is one of the 100 items on the "national political agenda" of the Moon administration and also one of the President's campaign pledges, and he appears to be keeping his word.
Yet, people have to wonder if now is the proper time for the ministry to announce the plan when the North is unilaterally escalating tension with its nuclear and missile threats despite United Nations' sanctions and warnings from the international community to Pyongyang.
In fact, the population of the South is ever declining due to it having one of the world's lowest birthrates, and many experts expect that we will have less than 500,000 troops available by 2023, just five years from now. Under these circumstances, the planned shortening of the service period is certain to cause a serious military vacuum, even if the country is well armed with a state-of-the-art arsenal. Furthermore, the North has nuclear weapons while the South does not.
It is no wonder that not only the opposition parties but many people, mostly conservatives, suspect that the plan is a kind of populism to curry favor with young voters ahead of the local elections in June. Those in their 20s and 30s are reportedly turning their backs on President Moon, amid growing discontent over strengthening regulations on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as the North's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
What the Moon administration has to do now is to set up concrete programs to ensure the projected smaller forces is armed with up-to-date weaponry, and to take into consideration the security situation on the peninsula.
South Korea is still technically at war, with the North ceaselessly threatening peace in this part of the world by its continuing development of nuclear weapons. The Moon Jae-in government, however, is determined to reduce the number of South Korean troops to half a million from the current 600,000. The provocative North maintains a force of 1.2 million soldiers.
The Ministry of National Defense is also planning to shorten the compulsory military service period to 18 months from the present 21 months, while the North's is 12 years at the longest. Israel, beleaguered by enemies, holds fast to a three-year mandatory service for men and two years for women.
The plan to reduce troops and shorten the period of service is one of the 100 items on the "national political agenda" of the Moon administration and also one of the President's campaign pledges, and he appears to be keeping his word.
Yet, people have to wonder if now is the proper time for the ministry to announce the plan when the North is unilaterally escalating tension with its nuclear and missile threats despite United Nations' sanctions and warnings from the international community to Pyongyang.
In fact, the population of the South is ever declining due to it having one of the world's lowest birthrates, and many experts expect that we will have less than 500,000 troops available by 2023, just five years from now. Under these circumstances, the planned shortening of the service period is certain to cause a serious military vacuum, even if the country is well armed with a state-of-the-art arsenal. Furthermore, the North has nuclear weapons while the South does not.
It is no wonder that not only the opposition parties but many people, mostly conservatives, suspect that the plan is a kind of populism to curry favor with young voters ahead of the local elections in June. Those in their 20s and 30s are reportedly turning their backs on President Moon, amid growing discontent over strengthening regulations on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as the North's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
What the Moon administration has to do now is to set up concrete programs to ensure the projected smaller forces is armed with up-to-date weaponry, and to take into consideration the security situation on the peninsula.
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