A group of former military leaders called on President Roh Moo-hyun Tuesday to apologize for what they view as his "disparaging" remarks on the armed forces and mandatory military duty for some political gains.
In a forum Thursday, Roh raised the need to shorten the military service period, saying, "young men should not go rotten for years in the military." Roh also sharply criticized former military brass for opposing his plan to regain the full operational control of the South Korean military from the United States.
Roh's remarks drew a strong backlash from conservative forces, which accuse the leader of attempting to muster reformist, young voters ahead of next year's presidential election.
"We, as those sacrificing our lives for the national security, can't contain our anger and disappointment at President Roh's Dec. 21 speech that profaned our nationals, soldiers and constitution and disparaged our holy military duty," said a statement issued after a meeting of 70 former military leaders on Tuesday.
"We are strongly opposing an attempt to cut the military service period for political objectives," it said.
All able-bodied men in South Korea are required to serve in the military for about two years under a conscription system to help deter aggression from North Korea's 1.1 million-member army.
In recent years, there have been consistent calls to overhaul the system to save the national budget and help young people continue their schooling or careers without interruption.
The former military leaders, however, said it is premature to revise the conscription system, citing a persistent threat from nuclear-armed North Korea.
"At present, the Republic of Korea faces the biggest security crisis since its foundation," the statement said, using South Korea's official name. "The national security shouldn't even be 0.01 percent uncertain. But the president is misleading the people regarding an issue that puts national security at stake."
Another matter of contention is the Roh administration's push to take back the wartime operational control of the military from the U.S., an authority that South Korea voluntarily handed over the American-led U.N. command during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Roh has said it is a matter of national sovereignty and pride.
Conservative forces, in contrast, have staged numerous rallies opposing the plan, saying the South Korean military is not strong enough to reclaim the authority.
In his Thursday forum, Roh rebuked former military leaders, saying, "They made a military that can't exercise the operational control of itself. But having star-grade ranks, they are swaggering as they are defense ministers and chiefs of staff." He also said, "They act in flocks to issue a statement saying we should not retake the operational control. Isn't it a dereliction of their duties?" The former military leaders countered that President Roh doesn't fully understand the significance of the South Korea-U.S. joint command system, which is currently headed by the chief of 30,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.
"Roh should immediately suspend his plan on the sole exercise of the operational control, which has nothing to do with the matter of national sovereignty and pride." Earlier this year, South Korea and U.S. agreed that Korea would retake the wartime operational control by March 2012 and dismantle their joint command structure to separately run their own troops on the peninsula.
Seoul, Dec. 26 (Yonhap News)
Ex-military leaders demand President Roh apologize |
