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Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung on Thursday said the government will proceed with efforts to take over wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S. The announcement in a snap press conference was a clear rejection of pleas from a group of 13 former defense ministers and senior military experts to the minister on Wednesday to halt the process.
Yoon said the fears of the ministers, whose combined tenures span 40 years, are ¡°due to the fact that people who were in the military or worked as defense ministers a long time ago are unable to precisely understand the development of our military." Korea and the U.S. plan to lay out a roadmap for the handover in this October's Security Consultative Meeting in Washington D.C. The U.S. seeks to handover control by 2009 or so, while Korea aims for 2012.
"It is wrong to underestimate the capabilities and determination of our armed forces," Yoon said. "When we looked at the rate Korea's operational capabilities are increasing, 2012 was thought to be enough time for Korea to secure independent capacity to deter North Korea." He added North Korea remains the South¡¯s ¡°principal military threat¡± and said Seoul¡¯s military ¡°is cutting-edge and modernized, and it is inappropriate to constantly compare our capabilities with those of the U.S. If we keep doing that, we'll never be able to take over wartime control."
The minister brushed off worries that recovery of operational control would mean more reductions to the U.S. Forces Korea or a cut in U.S. reinforcements, affect combined war preparedness or otherwise weaken the Korea-U.S. alliance. "The understanding between the two countries is clearly to maintain deterrence, and in accordance with the Mutual Defense Agreement, the U.S. presence will remain,¡± he said. "With a vision of the future, the Korea-U.S. alliance will evolve to the next level.¡± He said once the timetable for the handover has been decided, there will be reviews three years ahead of time to check if it remains possible.
Critics say the remarks are overly optimistic. They argue a 9.9 percent increase in defense spending over the next five to six years is needed to get the military where it needs to be in terms of guard, reconnaissance and precision strike capacity, and accuse the minister of thinking this was child's play. Yoon¡¯s implication that the alliance remains firm also seems to be undermined by signs that there is talk of additional troop cuts or even an all-out withdrawal in the U.S.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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