Military criticized for lax discipline

By Jung Da-min

The military has come under fire for poor surveillance protocols and lax discipline regarding security, following a series of intrusions by civilians onto its bases.

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo held an emergency meeting with senior military leaders over the matter, Tuesday, to discuss the causes of the intrusions and countermeasures. The intrusions this year have taken place despite the military's earlier promise to ensure sufficient surveillance after a North Korean fishing boat carrying four sailors was found in Samcheok Port in Gangwon Province last June without being detected.

“We are truly sorry for causing concern over the military's security operations in the recent series of events when the country is under a serious situation with the spread of COVID-19,” said Kim Joon, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), during a press briefing, Tuesday.

The latest case took place Monday when a 57-year-old man, surnamed Kim, dug under the fence surrounding the Capital Defense Command's air defense base located in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, and broke into it at around 11:46 a.m., according to the JCS.

The man was not caught by the military until a guard watching surveillance camera footage saw him at around 12:40 p.m.

Military officials checked video footage from the cameras to figure out how and when the man broke into the base. Kim said he was picking wild herbs and was drunk when caught by the military, according to the JSC.

He was referred sent to the police after the military dismissed the possibility of espionage.

“The military takes the situation seriously and will seek measures to prevent the recurrence of such an event after thoroughly investigating the unit command structure and taking follow-up actions,” the JCS said in a statement.

The JCS said Monday there had been another case of an intrusion by a 73-year-old man at the Jinhae Naval Base Command in South Gyeongsang Province.

The man entered the base through the front gate without being checked at around noon Jan. 3, as one guard was answering a phone and another two were checking vehicles entering the base.

He wandered around the base for about an hour-and-a-half before he being caught by a guard there and handed over to the police. He was later found to have a mental illness, according to the Navy.

Additionally, two civilians recently entered a naval base on Jeju Island. On March 7, four activists who had long opposed the construction of the base cut the barbed-wire fence surrounding it, and two of them went into the base at around 2:16 p.m. According to the JCS, new closed circuit cameras that replaced older ones in October and December last year were incompatible with the existing surveillance system, and so it did not pick up the intruders.

But military analysts point out the problem was not just with defective equipment. Upon finding damage to the fence, a guard reported the situation to his supervisor but the intruders wandered inside the base for nearly two hours before armed naval troops arrived at the scene at around 4:03 p.m.