Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

At a meeting of major commanders of the whole military forces in the first half of 2020, Minister Jeong stressed the need to inspect and reinforce the overall security system;
The participants agreed to maintain the best combat power through intensive drills and actively push forward with defense safety innovations.

Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo ordered thorough preparations to counter omnidirectional security threats while maintaining a firm readiness posture.
On June 10, Minister Jeong stressed the need for "full preparations for the maintenance of a military readiness posture to counter any situation" at the meeting of major commanders of the whole military forces for the first half of 2020, which was held at the ministry building in Yongsan, Seoul.

In his opening remarks, Jeong called on the military to enhance the integrity of the current military strength management related to surveillance and security operations on land, at sea and in the air while ensuring strict military discipline and mental readiness under the direction of commanders, and to further strengthen the operational personnel’s reaction capabilities through periodic situation management training. Significantly, he stressed the maintenance of a military readiness posture to counter any unexpected situations, saying that “given the current situation, I am not reminding you of the importance of security operations as a mere formality.”

Held in the form of a video conference to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the meeting was attended by major commanders from the ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and individual forces, and officials from government agencies, including Chairman of JCS Park Han-ki, Army Chief of Staff Suh Wook, Navy Chief of Staff Bu Seok-jong, Air Force Chief of Staff Won In-choul, Commander of Marine Corps Lee Seung-do, Commissioner of Military Manpower Administration Mo Jong-hwa, and an Defense Acquisition Program Administration official Kang Eun-ho.

The meeting started with an evaluation of the defense environment, which was followed by an assessment of the achievement of main defense policies for the first half of the year, sharing the defense policy direction for the second half of the year, collecting feedback and a discussion.

The participants shared the assessment that our military had successfully fulfilled its duty to protect the lives and safety of the people from the North’s military threats and non-traditional threats, such as COVID-19, amid the unstable security situation and difficult defense environment.
 
They also agreed that the implementation of the ‘September 19 military agreement’ had contributed to reducing military tensions and building trust between the two Koreas in a concrete and effective way for the last 20 months. Significantly, they shared the assessment that the military is stably managing the situation at the border area between the two sides by halting all hostile acts against each other on ground, at sea and in the air.

They also agreed that the military had maintained a firm military readiness posture based on special prevention measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 into the military, while providing full support to pan-national efforts to overcome the crisis by mobilizing all available resources and measures. As another achievement, they noted that the military had stably managed the military situation by monitoring the operation activities of the neighboring nations and responding firmly to the intrusion of military aircraft from neighboring nations into the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) as well as perfectly detecting and reacting to North Korea’s missile launches.

With a reminder that faults in surveillance and security operations that had occurred in some military units should be corrected by taking thorough follow-up actions, the participants agreed to push ahead with the follow-up actions, including inspecting and making up for the security system widely from long-distance to short-distance, strengthening the military structure to help the operational personnel show their capabilities and secure excellent manpower, and establishing a security posture at post, at sea and on the coast.

They also stressed the need for various countermeasures to root out incidents caused by the lack of discipline of some soldiers, such as crimes against superiors, drinking alcohol, and sexual violence, while citing the fact that casualties and suicides were reduced by 54% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in the previous year. Significantly, they agreed to push ahead with strategies and tasks related to defense safety innovations extending the use of a full-time safety officer to battalion-level units, applying a risk management process to all unit activities, developing a customized military safety education standard program while establishing institutional bases such as the consolidation of related laws and the enactment of ‘defense safety management directives.’

The participants pledged to maintain a firm military readiness posture based on the robust alliance between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States (US) under a close ROK-US combined defense posture, and continue to conduct actual fight training focused on combat missions while following the COVID-19 prevention guidelines in the second half of the year.

“Intensive training is the core value of our military. Our military should always maintain the best combat power by intensively performing the relevant training, in each echelon,” Jeong said, adding “the establishment of a firm military readiness posture should be made watertight, as it is the military’s noble duty.” He also reiterated the need to establish a strict military discipline and mental readiness posture as well as a sense of duty to protect the people.

By Chae-Mu, Im <lims86@dema.mil.kr >
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