We will have to re-evaluate President Roh Moo-hyun's pursuit of an "independent defense" if North Korea stops playing with fire and peace is maintained on the Korean Peninsula after the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command is dismantled and the U.S. Forces Korea have withdrawn because we have sole operational control of our troops. Judging from his remarks in Finland that North Korea’s missiles are not for any actual military attack but for “political purposes," Roh appears to have unshakeable trust in Kim Jong-il.

But if the North makes incessant localized trouble, be it terror attacks or military demonstrations, and follows them up with a nuclear threat and even all-out war once American troops have withdrawn, Roh Moo-hyun, who will then have driven Korea and the Koreans to their doom, should be charged with high treason. Many intellectuals, retired officials and journalists who are concerned about our security have warned of the North's intentions. If Roh insists on an independent defense without the U.S. in the face of these objections, it is his presidential responsibility to the state and the people and a minimal courtesy to say he will accept responsibility for the worst case.

Self-defense, needless to say, is fundamental to defending and preserving a state. Next comes mutual help with a friendly nation under the premise of not harming one another’s sovereignty. That is the logic of survival in the world today and the economics of an alliance.

Of course the fact that we are unable to maintain an independent defense and partly rely on the U.S. to fill in the gaps is nothing to be proud of. But a pursuit of independence alone, sacrificing the existing mutual assistance, in a situation where there is no guarantee at all of our national security, would spell certain doom. There is little point in examining whose fault it is and which government was responsible for the misjudgment that led to the parlous state our defense is in today. To escape the immaturity and lack of preparedness of the past, we have to avoid making the same mistakes and misjudgments again. Roh stands warned.

The five officials under Emperor Gojong, Yi Wan-yong among them, who agreed to hand the Korean Empire's diplomatic rights to Japan in 1905, are known as “the five Eulsa Traitors." Research re-examining their conduct in light of the orders from Emperor Gojong to "settle the matter satisfactorily through negotiations" shows that they were powerless to disentangle the whole situation. Instead, they concentrated their efforts on preserving the royal household and its autonomy in domestic affairs, and on trying to limit the period for which they conceded diplomatic rights, by accepting Japan’s overall demand. That was the beginning of the end, and what we now deplore is this misjudgment that heralded the demise of the 500-year-old Chosun Dynasty.

Thus a government’s judgment sways the fate of a nation. It does not matter whether it was made in good faith or bad. But a president, who is entrusted with the right to manage the state for the limited period of five years, should be extremely humble and prudent in the knowledge that his judgment could end up destroying the foundations of a country. Judgments on policy matters can have negative effects, but judgments involving national security can have disastrous consequences.

The president must say why he stubbornly chooses an uncertain path in such a grave situation. Talk about independence, national pride and operational control of our forces sounds good. But sandwiched between the belligerent Kim Jong-il regime, which has no hope of survival unless it devours us, and China and Japan with their dreams of becoming the leading power not only in Asia but in the world, we need more than pretty phrases. We cannot allow our national security to be shaken by even a 0.001 percent possibility.

President Roh, all dressed up in independence before meeting his U.S. counterpart, must commit himself before the people to accepting the responsibility that comes with this luxury: namely, that he may be guilty of high treason if military intimidation and attacks on our security multiply here.