Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Minister of National Defense vows to “push forward with Defense Reform 2.0, to embody a ‘comprehensive security’”

In his keynote speech at ‘Defense Academy Seminar 2020,’ Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo clarified his willingness to:
 
* extend the military’s duties and role to enable more thorough preparations
* add the task of building a non-conventional security threat response system
* build a legal basis to enable prompt response within the golden time
* strengthen the readiness posture against all potential military threats 
 

Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo clarified his willingness to strive to build a strong national defense that will embody the goal of comprehensive security. In his keynote speech at ‘Defense Academy Seminar 2020,’ held at Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on June 15, Jeong announced that he would strive to ensure a comprehensive security for the nation, spanning non-conventional security threats as well as traditional military threats, based on the promotion of the Defense Reform 2.0 initiative.

“Having faced the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis earlier than expected, we learned that our military should make up for vulnerabilities in the existing plan and extend its duty and role through more thorough preparations in responding to comprehensive security threats,” Jeong explained.

“With a clearer appreciation now of the importance of comprehensive security, our military will expand its capacity in areas such as laws and systems, structure and organization, and the ability to provide support, and its duties and roles by adding the task of manifesting a ‘defense response system against non-conventional security threats’ to the Defense Reform 2.0 initiative,” Jeong said. Significantly, he stressed that the military would establish a legal basis to enable it to respond promptly and within the 'golden' time to early crisis situations, where there is a fine line between disasters and military threats.

Jeong also said that “our military would expand and enhance its functional response system according to the type of threat, such as CBR (chemical, biological, and radiological), terror, disaster, or infectious disease, while preparing itself to perform its missions effectively by optimizing the current military organization and forces.”

Mentioning the recent security situation on the Korean Peninsula, Jeong also clarified his willingness to thoroughly prepare against traditional military security threats. After commenting that “tensions are running high,” he stressed that “with systematic preparations to build a strong military focusing on the promotion of the Defense Reform 2.0 initiative, our military has managed and overcome a wide range of crisis situations, as a ‘military for the people, of the people.’” He also explained, “the military has made progress in strengthening its capability and posture to respond to all potential military threats that may put national security at risk, as well as North Korea’s nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threats, by allocating the highest national defense budget since 2018 to expanding our core military capability and the response forces against WMD threats.”

Ending the speech, Jeong promised that the military would continue to build strong forces that can be trusted by the people, and make the nation proud by seeking a way forward for more efficient use of the budget to faithfully promote the defense reform initiative, one of the tasks of the times. He also called for the people to “give support to soldiers so that they can strive to perform their duties with a boosted morale,” as well as to have trust in the military and soldiers.

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