Defense Minister vows surveillance over North Korea's 'new way'
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, center, presides over a year-end key military commanders' meeting held at the ministry compound in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Wednesday the military is closely monitoring North Korea's increasing military activities as the year-end deadline for denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang set by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is approaching.
Speaking at a key military commanders' meeting held at the ministry compound in Seoul, the minister said recent military provocations by the North near the South's Northern Limit Line (NLL) on the western coast was a violation of the Sept. 19 inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) reached last year between President Moon Jae-in and Kim.
“North Korea has violated the Sept. 19 CMA,” Jeong said. “I call for the military to maintain perfect military readiness, in particular, as this is key to supporting the government's diplomatic efforts to build inter-Korean military confidence and an effective implementation of the Sept. 19 CMA.”
He also noted the North's increased military activities including the Nov. 28 test-fire of its super-large multiple rocket launcher system marking the 13th missile test by the North so far this year, could be viewed as a resumption of the North's “combat fight contest.”
The defense chief stressed it is essential to maintain combined military readiness between South Korea and the United States, while the two allies are facing a wide range of issues including the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul and the defense cost-sharing negotiations.
As the allies are pushing forward with the “conditions-based” transfer of OPCON, they conducted a test of the South Korean military's initial operational capability (IOC) during their joint drill in August called the Combined Command Post Training.
“I hope the entire military will concentrate all its efforts to conduct the assessment of full operational capability (FOC) to actively promote the transfer of OPCON. […] The year 2020 marks the 70th year since the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. Again, we should keep the security with a sense of duty,” Jeong said.
Among the attendees of the military commanders' year-end meeting were Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki, Army Chief of Staff Suh Wook, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Sim Seung-seob, Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Lee Seung-do and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Kim Jun-sik.