Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

‘Outraged’ by the North’s nuclear and missile provocations; ‘cheered’ by support ... ‘thank you! soldiers!’

At the end of every year, people always describe it as having been eventful. This year is no exception. There have been more serious national defense issues than ever before, and the prompt responses and countermeasure have been devised accordingly. Central to all of this, of course, has been the North’s nuclear and missile threats. There was no shortage of world-shaking issues from outside Korea as well, including the surprising election of Donald Trump as the 45th U.S. president and more. ‘Ten News Items’ have been selected which gained the most attention from people this year, in the areas of national defense, Korean news and overseas news.

Strong response to the North’s nuclear tests and missile launches

North Korea repeatedly provoked Republic of Korea with its 4th and 5th nuclear tests in January and September, and several missile launches. In response, the Korean military decided to establish the ‘3-axis system.’ This consists of Kill Chain, which detects signs of the North firing a nuclear weapon in advance and launches a preemptive strike; KAMD, which shoots down incoming missiles; and KMPR, which means a massive retaliation punishment in response to North Korea. This also led to an expansion of the national defense budget, which will reach 40 trillion won next year, a first since the establishment of the Republic of Korean army. In addition, the UN adopted resolutions No. 2270 and 2321, and countries around the world have implemented independent sanctions in order to put pressure on North Korea from all directions.

Confirmed THAAD deployment

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile (THAAD) was finally confirmed for deployment in Chojeon-myeon, Seongju-eup, Gyeongsangbuk-do, where a golf course, belonging to the Lotte company, is located, at the end of September. THAAD is a ballistic missile defense system that can directly shoot down the North’s SCUD, Nodong and Musudan missiles at an altitude of 40-150 km when they attack us. It consists of 6 launchers and fire control radar. The Ministry of National Defense is planning to deploy THAAD in 2017 according to the original plan after discussing with the new Trump administration.

Republic of Korea and Japan’s General Security of Military Information Agreement   Concluded

Korea and Japan concluded an General Security of Military Information Agreement for an effective response against the North’s nuclear and missile threats on November 23. The agreement, with 21 provisions in total, specified details on the exchange of confidential military information Grade 2 or lower and its security maintenance, range of authorized reader of that information and destruction method, measures of loss and damage, etc. Thus far, we have entered into General Security of Military Information Agreement or stipulation with 32 countries, including the US, France, Russia and others, and 1 organization (NATO) and are in the process of concluding the agreement with an additional 10 countries including China and more.

The era of 10,000-female-soldiers has arrived

As of the end of June, the number of female soldiers in Korea exceeded 10,000. By military branch, there were 6,915 in the Army, 1264 in the Navy, 1694 in the Air Force and 390 in the Marine Corps. Other than some branches of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the female soldiers have gone into most of the military branches. The MND has set the goal of increasing the number of female soldiers to 7% of officers and 5% of noncommissioned officers by 2020 in order to utilize their outstanding female abilities. The goal of a 7% of officers’ quota has already been achieved in 2015, and the achievement of remaining goal of a 5% of noncommissioned officers’ quota is planned to be shifted to 2017, which is three years ahead of a schedule.

Completion of Jeju naval base

Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Tourism Port (Jeju naval base) had a completion ceremony on February 26, revealing its splendor for the ‘21st century of Cheonghaejin’. It’s been 23 years since the MND highlighted the need for the construction of Jeju naval base in December 1993, and 9 years since Gangjeong coast was selected as its site in 2007. A total budget of 123.1 billion won has been invested in the Jeju naval base, which is expected to effectively protect the southern sea lane, develop rapid fighting power and respond to rear infiltration threats.

Extended civil participation, love for soldiers campaign

The ‘Thank you! Soldiers!’ campaign has been carried on since last June. The MND has created a ‘brand-integrated image (BI)’ to give the campaign a symbolization, continuity and unity so that it can develop as long-term social and cultural movement, and broadly utilized this image through various on- and off-line channels such as press releases, event printouts, mementos, videos, card news, etc. A representative example is that LABOUM, an idol group has been designated as the captain of a cheerleading squad for soldiers.

1st Yellow Sea Protection Day

The government established the day of Yellow Sea Protection to honor patriotic war veterans killed while protecting the Yellow Sea against North Korea’s provocation including the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong (Jun. 29, 2002), Cheonan Ship attack (Mar. 26, 2010) and the Yeonpyeong shelling provocation (Nov. 23, 2010), etc. Its first ceremony was held at Daejeon National Cemetery on March 25. The anniversary date has been set as the 4th Friday of every March, in memory of the most devastating Cheonan attack that broke out on that day.

Operation to evict Chinese fishing boats from the Han River estuary

The military has jointly organized civilian police with the Navy, Marine Corps, Maritime police and UNC, and developed an operation to evict Chinese fishing boats from the Han River Estuary since June 10. This was the first time since the conclusion of the ceasefire agreement on July 27, 1953. As a result, illegal Chinese fishing, 520 incidents of which have been recorded as of May, was completely eliminated after June 17. The civilian police evicted 54 Chinese fishing boats, and seized 2 during the operation.

Broad expansion of military welfare including remote medical examination etc.

Military welfare for soldiers has been broadly expanded. As of now, 10,000 remote medical examinations for military personnel, which eliminates spacial and time constraints and enables soldiers who serve in remote areas without medical officers to be able to receive treatment, have been performed. The number of remote military clinics was increased from 40 to 63 as of the end of last year, and is planned to be expanded in stages to 76 by 2017. Medical expense support for civil hospitals for disease or injury during duties is being expanded to all soldiers, from new recruits to professional soldiers. Since January, public mobile phones for reception only have been installed at military barracks so that soldiers can use the phone freely.

The military led disaster recovery support

It was the people’s military as expected. Our military has done its utmost to protect the lives and assets of the public. It has led various disaster recovery support efforts, including in Chaba last summer and in response to the earthquakes that occurred in Gyeongju area, as well as responding to drought, forest fire, animal diseases, fires, etc. It took 100,000 man-days of mobilized military strength in total and thousands of units of heavy equipment. Thanks to the military aid provided to civil authorities, local residents were encouraged to get back on their feet.

By Joo-Hyeong, Lee < jataka@dema.mil.kr >
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