President Lee Myung-bak presided over a military commanders' meeting Tuesday, for the first time in the 62-year history of the armed forces.
The unprecedented case, which was unheard of even during the Korean War (1950-53), seemed to indicate how grave the government thinks the current security situation is, in the aftermath of the sinking of the Navy frigate Cheonan with the loss of 46 sailors on March 26.
Defense experts have also called for a rebirth of the nation's military, stressing it should be completely different from before the Cheonan incident.
What came out of the 90-minute conference, however, was rather business as usual at best and disappointingly banal at worst. President Lee said he would appoint a special advisor on security matters and set up a comprehensive agency responsible for checking the security stance. This is nothing but the restoration of the National Security Council under the previous administration, which Lee himself abolished two years ago.
The President also vowed to take ``definitive and decisive'' steps on whoever proves to be responsible for the naval disaster as soon as investigators find out its cause. It was a necessary remark for the commander-in-chief but will remain little more than that, until more details arise concerning who and how.
There are few reasons to distrust the multinational, military-civilian joint inquiry squad, but it would have been far better to form a bipartisan team consisted of the same number of investigators recommended by both the governing and opposition parties, as the U.S. government did right after 9/11. This is because popular suspicion still remains over the mysterious incident while the probe is ongoing, and is unlikely to be completely resolved even after the results are announced.
What was most noticeable during Tuesday's event was Lee's rebuke of the lamentable state of the Korean military, ranging from poor preparedness to a dismal reporting system, lack of discipline and low intelligence ability. If the proposed comprehensive security-checking agency is to prove to be effective in correcting these problems, it must let in a number of civilian experts, braving the expected resistance from the military.
It is not certain, however, whether President Lee has the will, and more importantly, the ability to push for these defense reforms. Unfortunately, the prospects should be seen as not very bright, as most recently shown in the handling of the early stages of this incident. Although Lee made clear his intention that a civilian should head the joint investigation team, for instance, it is somehow taking the form of a double-chief system. The President also stressed foreign investigators should not be reduced to assistants, but few know exactly what role the foreigners are playing.
This may appear to be the time to not unduly criticize the armed forces but to raise their morale. But the chief executive has rightly stressed the need for revamping the ``culture'' within the military. The best encouragement is to lead the military in the right direction, and there can be no better moment to do so than when its problems are completely exposed.
Otherwise, the administration can hardly be free from suspicion that all this is just another demonstration related to domestic politics.