Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Yoon's security strategy focuses on ROK-US alliance, stronger deterrence against NK
First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo speaks during a press briefing at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
The cover of the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration's National Security Strategy / Courtesy of presidential office
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration announced its new security strategy, Wednesday, reflecting a determination to strengthen South Korea's alliance with the United States, while departing from the previous Moon Jae-in administration's concentration on rapprochement with Pyongyang in the pursuit of normalized South-North Korea relations.
The Office of National Security published the Yoon administration's National Security Strategy, which is the highest-level document outlining South Korea's current national security concerns and how the administration seeks to address them.
“The Yoon administration's diplomatic and security direction can be summarized as carrying out the cooperative diplomacy of freedom and solidarity, while pursuing practical national interests,” First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo said in a press briefing.
“After clearly setting out the values and the goal that the country will pursue, it is about maximizing the national interests by securing an omnidirectional global cooperation network based on existing networks with friendly nations … Contributing to the freedom, peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula, East Asia and the world is the ultimate goal of the government's foreign policies, and this will be fleshed out by customized policies tailored to different regions and issues.”
In the 147-page document written in English, which is 107 pages long in Korean, the administration focuses on expanding Seoul's diplomatic scope to the global community and stronger deterrence against North Korea's provocations.
The document also clearly states North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as Seoul's top security concerns and contains the administration's intention to “decisively counter” Pyongyang's provocations based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance that “includes nuclear capabilities” and stronger trilateral security cooperation involving Japan.
It also assesses the deepening strategic competition between the U.S. and China, North Korea's evolving missile and nuclear capacity and emerging security threats, such as climate change, as three noteworthy changes in South Korea's security environment.
The government says it will address those changes by strengthening its alliance with Washington, normalizing ties with Japan, improving security cooperation between the three countries and proactively participating in debates on global issues.
In doing so, the government will adhere to Yoon's North Korea policy referred to as his “Audacious Initiative,” Seoul's Indo-Pacific Strategy and Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, according to the document.
The “Audacious Initiative” is a promise that Seoul will provide comprehensive measures to improve the socio-economic condition of North Korea if the North returns to denuclearization talks and agrees to a roadmap to scrap its nuclear and missile programs.
Yoon announced South Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy in November, which details Seoul's responsible role in ensuring stability and shared prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and establishing order based on norms and rules.
The new strategy document sets the Yoon administration's diplomatic goal as becoming a “global pivotal state for freedom, peace and prosperity,” whereas that of the previous Moon administration described its pursued goal as “a peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula.”
The latest document also stipulates that North Korea's “nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) pose a critical threat to our national security” and Seoul should respond through strengthening U.S. extended deterrence, while Moon's vision noted that a “peaceful resolution to the North's nuclear issue is being visualized” on the occasion of summits involving the two Koreas and the U.S.
“Whereas the previous administration spent its time and efforts on matters related to the Korean Peninsula, now it is about approaching the same matter by considering the mainstream ideas of our major allies, friendly nations,” an official at the presidential office said.
The official said the nuclear consultative group (NCG) between South Korea and the U.S. will hold its inaugural meeting in the summer, and a trilateral summit between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo will follow.
The NCG is one of the main pillars of the nuclear-based South Korea-U.S. alliance, aimed at giving South Korea more insight into U.S. nuclear planning and execution to deter North Korea's ever-increasing nuclear and missile threats.