A group of former South Korean defense ministers on Thursday called upon the government to scrap plans to take over wartime control of South Korea's military from the United States.
They also asked the government to first seek public consent and parliamentary approval for the move, saying it is a vital security issue to "determine the existence of the country and the survival of the people."
"We were dismayed at President Roh Moo-hyun's remarks and cannot agree with them," they said in a statement issued at the end of a meeting, referring to Roh's interview Wednesday with Yonhap News Agency in which Roh said he doesn't care whether Korea regains wartime control in 2009 or 2012.
The U.S. proposed returning the wartime operational control of troops to South Korea by 2009, citing the latter's improved defense capabilities, while South Korea's Defense Ministry said it hopes to retake it by 2012.
But the 17 former defense ministers voiced concern that the wartime control takeover will not only bring about an immediate dissolution of the South Korea-U.S. combined forces command, but also the withdrawal of the U.S. troops stationed here.
"We will hold a rally in front of Seoul Station tomorrow in military uniform. It does nothing but harm to the country to take back wartime control from the U.S.," said Kim Seong-eun, who served as defense minister for six years, beginning in 1963.
This view was echoed by former Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin, who served from 2001 to 2002 under President Kim Dae-jung.
"The current administration seems to look upon operational control as a matter of sovereignty or national pride, but this must not supercede the national interest and the state of readiness of our forces," he said. Kim said that by emphasizing self-determination above all else, the country could risk losing something much more important. He said the safety of the people is of paramount importance.
Other experts said that while South Korea's military has become a powerful fighting force, it was still deficient in such areas as intelligence-gathering and C4I (command control communication computer and information assets), and did not have a sufficient striking capability to hit strategic targets deep inside North Korea.
The ex-ministers had originally planned to hold a meeting on Monday, but postponed it after Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung persuaded them to wait and see what would happen after he talked with President Roh.
Later, however, they were irked by Yoon's remarks that some of them served as minister too long ago to understand how much the country's military has advanced. Yoon stressed that a change in the South Korean command system would not weaken its deterrence against North Korea or its alliance with the U.S.
In response, a government policymaker who declined to be identified said that concerns raised by former ministers are not based on the latest information. He added that once they were briefed on developments that have taken place, most of the cited concerns will be alleviated. The remarks are an indication that Seoul will push forward talks to regain wartime operational control of its forces.
Earlier in the day, Song Min-soon, chief presidential secretary for security policy, said the government need not seek parliamentary approval for taking over wartime control of its military from the United States, since Seoul is not signing a new treaty.
South Korea and the U.S. have almost finalized joint studies on the terms of a new alliance, with a focus on Seoul's greater role in its military operations. But they are still at odds over the timeline of and roadmap for the transfer of wartime operational control.
South Korea voluntarily put the operational control of its military under the American-led U.N. Command (UNC) shortly after the three-year Korean War broke out in 1950. It regained peacetime control of its forces in 1994, but wartime operational control remains in the hands of the top U.S. commander here.
About 30,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. The number is scheduled to go down to 25,000 by 2008.
The two Koreas are still technically in a state of war, since the Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The Seoul-Washington alliance has faced fundamental changes in recent years, as South Korea demands a greater role in its military operations to reduce its 680,000-strong military's dependence on the U.S. military.
The U.S., for its part, has also begun transforming its fixed military bases in South Korea into more mobile, streamlined forces as part of its global troop-realignment plan.
Seoul, Aug. 10 (Yonhap News)
Ex-defense chiefs urge gov't to scrap plans on wartime control takeover |
