ED Pathetic military leaders
Koreans have some misconceptions about their liberal and conservative leaders.
Such prejudices stand out in two areas: economy and defense.
People believe the economy grew faster under tight-fisted conservative presidents than welfare-minded liberals. Still, statistics show the growth rate was higher under progressive leaders.
The public also thinks inter-Korean hawks focused more on defense than doves. However, dovish ex-President Roh Moo-hyun, who stressed self-reliant defense, spent more on armed forces than business-oriented Lee Myung-bak, a hawk. Another dove, Moon Jae-in, made a drastic arms buildup in his later days, inviting backlash from North Korea.
Nevertheless, military leaders preferred hawks to doves. They disliked Roh, who tried to retake wartime operational control from the U.S. These generals and admirals said the move was premature and would hurt the alliance with America. However, their disapproval of Roh seemed to stem from other reasons.
Watching the confirmation hearing on Vice Admiral Kim Myung-soo, the nominee for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was pathetic. From May 2021 to last month, Kim was found to have made about 50 stock trades — during office hours. He did so even in January 2022, when North Korea launched missiles frequently. Kim also teed off 70 times, including twice last year when the North fired ICBMs.
Kim said he was out of the chain of command in those years. Even some ruling party lawmakers had to press him on whether behaving like that in emergencies, regardless of his position, was appropriate. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, who took the post weeks ago, also came under fire for sending messages on stock trade before attending a National Assembly session. The two are not exceptions. If North Korea is to make another provocation, it might choose a sunny day with active stock trading.
Even more surprisingly, President Yoon Suk Yeol, the hawk of hawks, promoted Kim to full admiral only days ago to name him the chairman of JCS. It’s hard to know whether Yoon’s aides have forgotten about vetting key nominees or there were other reasons for favoring Kim.
The president has appointed most officials disapproved by the Assembly. Still, he must not do so as far as national security is concerned. People are more puzzled because the nomination came after Yoon emphasized “restoring military discipline” and “strengthening defense posture.”
Contrary to his dovish predecessor, Yoon stated clearly that North Korea is the “main enemy” from his candidate days. He then beefed up Seoul’s alliance with Washington, as seen by the shift to a “tailored deterrence strategy.” Good. Reinforcing shields cannot be overemphasized.
However, it is less easy to understand Seoul’s attempts to reinvigorate the United Nations Command (UNC). In 1950, South Korea was no match for the North, militarily and economically. The South’s economy is now 50 times larger than the North’s, and Seoul spends far more on defense than Pyongyang’s entire annual budget. Should it still fly the U.N. flag?
The defense minister and JCS chairman nominee want to nullify a 2018 military agreement between the two Koreas that was signed to avoid accidental clashes. True, the accord makes it somewhat cumbersome to monitor the North’s moves. Still, experts say it poses no major difficulties in surveillance, and scrapping it will only provide excuses for Pyongyang’s violations.
With or without the agreement, South Korea’s land, sea, and airspace are full of holes. The South could do nothing when North Korean drones flew over Seoul. Soldiers in the DMZ failed to spot a North Korean defector returning to the North. The Navy was not even aware of a North Korean family crossing the sea border until they were spotted by fishermen.
People feel far safer when inter-Korean dialogues and airtight defense go together instead of saber-rattling by "chicken hawks." They may welcome a stronger alliance with the world’s most powerful nation, but don’t want their country to stand at the vanguard of a renewed Cold War.
Koreans hope the military of the world’s 10th-largest economy is more independent, confident, and disciplined. The commander-in-chief and his generals should ponder whether they are making people feel that way.