President Lee Myung-bak called for building stronger armed forces Wednesday, saying North Korea keeps posing missile and nuclear threats, and regional tensions are escalating over history and sovereignty issues.
Lee stressed the security environment around the Korean Peninsula is growing more fluid and unstable as he addressed top military commanders during an Armed Forces Day ceremony at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters in central South Korea.
"North Korea is still pursuing the development of nuclear weapons and missiles ... Political conflicts and military tensions are building up (in Northeast Asia) due to different perceptions of history and issues surrounding territories and claims to sovereignty," Lee said.
"As a result, the security environment is in a state of flux and becoming inceasingly unstable. ... To surmount these challenges and safeguard peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, our military has to serve as an unwavering foundation of security," he said.
Tensions in Northeast Asia have spiked in recent months, with relations between South Korea and Japan turning sharply sour over Tokyo's territorial claims to the South's easternmost islets of Dokdo, and Japan experiencing a similar row with China and Taiwan over a group of East China Sea islets.
Lee said the country should steadily push for defense reform to make the military lighter, more agile and efficient. He also said the combined defense capabilities with the United States should be bolstered under the South's initiative ahead of Seoul's retaking of wartime operation control over its troops in 2014.
"We have to keep abreast of the changes likely to take place in future wars. They may well be described as a 'hybrid war' in that they will be a combination of conventional war, non-military confrontation and high-tech war based on science and technology," he said.
Lee also called for the military to arm itself with resilient spiritual power and determination to safeguard the country, stressing that high-tech weaponry alone does not guarantee strong leading armed forces.
Armed Forces Day is Oct. 1, but the ceremony was moved up because of the Chuseok holiday. (Yonhap)