Moon calls for military to boost defense readiness

Ministry rapped for stalling on structural reform

By Jun Ji-hye

President Moon Jae-in called on the nation’s armed forces Monday to undertake strong structural reform so they can immediately carry out offensive operations in the case of a North Korean attack.

Moon said defense reform is necessary to better accommodate a paradigm shift to modern warfare amid evolving threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

“I call on the military to strongly push for structural reform to accommodate the modern warfare environment in which the military can immediately shift to the offense if North Korea conducts a provocation that crosses a line or attacks Seoul and its surrounding areas,” Moon said while being briefed on policy plans from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

Calling for enhancing capabilities of amphibious and airborne operations, the President also asked the defense ministry to draw up a detailed timeline for establishing a three-pronged defense system ― the Kill Chain preemptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) plan.

The Kill Chain is a system to carry out a preemptive strike against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile facilities if Seoul is faced with an imminent threat, while the KAMD would track and shoot down North Korean ballistic missiles heading for South Korea. The KMPR would be used to punish and retaliate against the North if it strikes the South. The ministry initially planned to deploy the three systems in the mid-2020s.

According to Moon’s top press secretary Yoon Young-chan, Moon reprimanded the military during the briefing, claiming the South has been investing far more than the impoverished North but military officials are still lacking in confidence about whether Seoul can overwhelm Pyongyang in military power.

“South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) is 45 times larger than that of North Korea,” Moon said. “Considering the figure, our defense power must be able to overwhelm that of the North, but when comparing our defense capabilities, military officials talks as if our abilities fall short of those of the North.”

Moon stressed the government will make every effort to financially support defense reform even in tough economic times, but more importantly, the military should try to reform itself by breaking down its outdated culture.

The comments were in line with Moon’s determination expressed throughout his presidential campaign to reform the Army-dominated armed forces to achieve a better balance between the Army, Navy and Air Force. Moon raised the need to move the conventional Army-orientated military toward a future-oriented one with the most advanced weapons systems, at a time when the North is bolstering its so-called asymmetric warfare capabilities by developing nuclear weapons and missiles.

The move is also in line with the President’s wish to take back wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from the U.S. at the earliest possible date.

As part of efforts to achieve his vision for defense reform, Moon earlier picked retired Navy Admiral Song Young-moo as defense minister and Air Force General Jeong Kyeong-doo as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Suh Choo-suk, a reform-minded researcher, was named as vice defense minister.

During its briefing to the President, the defense ministry vowed to push for a paradigm shift in its war concept to play a “leading and aggressive” role in the case of armed conflicts on the Korean Peninsula.

Participants in the briefing included Defense Minister Song, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Pi Woo-jin, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, chief policymaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. JCS Chairman Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force were also present.

The policy briefing took place after the Kim Jong-un regime fired three projectiles into the East Sea, Saturday morning, which were presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles.

The first and third missiles flew approximately 250 kilometers, while the second one appeared to have blown up almost immediately, according to the U.S. Pacific Command.

Cheong Wa Dae earlier said the projectiles were presumed to have been artillery rockets from the new 300-millimeter multiple launch rocket system, but a military official here said Monday that in-depth analysis with the U.S. indicated they were more likely ballistic missiles.

“The missiles reached a maximum altitude of about 50 kilometers,” the official said, asking not to be named. “More analysis is necessary to find out the type of and additional data on the missiles.”

Moon meets with US lawmakers

Earlier in the day, President Moon met with a U.S. congressional delegation, led by Ed Royce (R-CA), at Cheong Wa Dae and discussed North Korean issues and other pending bilateral matters.

Moon expressed his gratitude toward the U.S. politicians for their efforts to impose strong sanctions and pressure on the North through legislation to resolve threats from the nuclear and missile programs. Moon also praised them for sending a message on hopes for a diplomatic solution at the same time.

In response, Royce, chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Relations Committee, stressed the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, calling it a cornerstone of his country’s presence in the Northeast Asian region.

He also called for joint efforts to enhance the two countries’ free trade agreement.

The U.S. delegation included four other representatives ― Ted Yoho (R-FL), Ami Bera (D-CA), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Jenniffer Gonzalez (R-PR). They arrived in Seoul Sunday for a four-day trip.

Before meeting Moon, Royce met with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

“We brought a large bipartisan delegation again here in order to express our desire to continue to build on the relationship between South Korea and the U.S.,” Royce said before beginning the meeting with Kang.

“We are looking forward to dialogue with your National Assembly members, and we appreciate the strong inter-parliamentary exchanges we’ve had over the years between Korea and the U.S. They have been very helpful for us to understand so many issues,” he added.