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No fewer than 16 of Korea¡¯s former defense ministers have declared themselves ¡°stunned¡± by President Roh Moo-hyun's remarks on Wednesday that Korea is capable of withdrawing wartime operational control of its troops at any time. "We are thunderstruck that the president, who is responsible for safeguarding national defense and the nation's survival, takes national security so lightly,¡± they added in a statement on Thursday. Korea¡¯s sole exercise of wartime control of its forces will lead not only to an immediate dismantling of Combined Forces Command's operational plans, a top-level deterrent against North Korea, ¡°but also to the dissolution of the Seoul-Washington alliance and the withdrawal of the U.S. Forces Korea."
Asking the chief executive to take advice on national security issues not from ideologists but from the country's security experts, the former defense chiefs pleaded, "Make a resolute decision so that this matter may be discussed only after the North Korean nuclear and missile issues are resolved and peace and safety are achieved on the Korean Peninsula."
National security has got into such a parlous state that the ministers in charge of Korea¡¯s defense over the past half-century have to get together and issue a stern warning. In his Wednesday interview, the president said he was deeply concerned that those in charge for defense in the past ¡°talk in a way that totally reverses the reality." But shouldn¡¯t he be more deeply concerned that they felt compelled to stand up in the first place?
When the president mentioned the withdrawal of wartime operational control on Armed Forces Day last year, the former defense chiefs sought an interview with the chief executive, but he declined, so they had to meet the presidential security secretary instead. Earlier this month, they met Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung. In the meetings, Yoon and the security presidential aide are said to have promised the visitors to pass their advice on to the president, but there was no indication they took it to heart.
Like the former ministers, we too wonder whose counsel the president listened to on security and defense matters. Even as the president said Korea was capable of taking sole control of its troops ¡°right now,¡± Defense Minister Yoon reportedly told a few of his predecessors he was meeting withdrawing control before 2012 was unfeasible and vowed to do his best to delay it. In short, they put forward completely divergent views on the same day.
Does that mean the president doesn¡¯t even listen to the man he has put in charge of defense in explaining vital security issues to the people? What's more, among the former ministers who singed the statement, one even served under Roh for a year and a half. Does that mean the president is making all the calculations in his solitary mind?
The former defense ministers and senior officers who built our armed forces plan to take to the streets on Friday, clad in worn-out military uniforms to shout slogans demanding an end to efforts to retrieve wartime operational command. The majority of the people stand behind them.
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