By Lee Tae-hoon
The single most important change in the ongoing defense reforms is restoring operational command to the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, top military officials said in a recent policy briefing.
The heads of the Army and Air Force as well as the chief of Naval Operations have been stripped of their rights to participate in the execution of military operations since 1991.
It was a part of efforts to prevent a military coup, while giving more authority to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
“We want to overhaul the outdated structure which restricts the authority of chiefs of the armed forces so much that they may play golf even when the nation faces a security crisis,” Vice Defense Minister Lee Yong-gul told The Korea Times.
Under the current law, the heads of the three armed forces are only responsible for training troops and providing intelligence, logistics and manpower support in the case of war or an armed attack.
When asked what role the chief of Naval Operations played after a South Korean warship was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine last March, Brig. Gen. Shin Kyung-chul, director of the military structure reform, replied, “Nothing.”
“It was absolutely wrong to assume that the chief of Naval Operations led the rescue and other missions involving last year’s Cheonan incident,” Shin said, stressing that the existing law bars the four-star admiral from making contributions to military operations.
“The chief of Naval Operations could not even come near the site of the command center as it could have been construed as an act of overstepping his authority or violating the law.”
Nevertheless, the defense ministry’s push for the structural change is facing strong resistance from retired generals.
More than 50 former chiefs of the armed forces and former deputy chiefs of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command rejected the ministry’s invitation to a policy briefing on the issue, scheduled for this week.
As of Monday morning, only 614 of 2,300 retired generals that the ministry sent an invitation to expressed willingness to attend one of the three sessions to be held at the defense ministry from Thursday through Saturday.
Many of the retired generals claim that the government is seeking a law revision for military reform without proper assessment or consultation over the impact and possible negative fallout. The government plans to hold a public debate in three weeks before submitting the bill next month.
The former military officials say the revision could lead to a security loophole and inefficiency in the command structure as the new role of the armed forces chiefs would overlap that of the JCS command centers, which the defense ministry wants to close by the end of 2014.
The government wants to grant operational command to the chiefs of the armed forces as early as this year, but cannot immediately close command centers as the transition would involve years of preparation.
“It requires a considerable amount time to revamp the C4I system and other military facilities to meet the needs of new operational requirements,” Shin acknowledged.
Once the revision bill passes the National Assembly, the heads will be allowed to participate in military operations under the supervision of the chairman of the JCS.