[Editorial] Dangerous Optimism

President Roh said Wednesday at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) that “The foremost important thing in regard to North Korea’s nuclear issue is not exaggerating the situation. I don’t think the balance of military power on the Korean peninsula has been upset despite North Korea’s nuclear test.”

President Roh’s remarks were extremely optimistic. He said South Korea is capable of managing the balance of military power on the Korean peninsula thanks to its military power, people, the ROK-U.S. alliance and international community.

If things all work out as President Roh envisions, we don’t need to worry about security problems. However, the question is whether the ROK-U.S. alliance is strong enough to make the U.S. send reinforcements right away in the event of war. It’s a common sense that we need to prepare for a possible war, even if the chance is extremely slim. North Korea has never given up its ambition to unify Korea by force. Even if President Roh’s remark may have intended to boost investment in Korea, it still reflects how irresponsible he is on national defense.

Meanwhile, in regard to military power vacuum, which can occur once the wartime command control is retrieved from the U.S., Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said at the ongoing parliamentary inspection that, “If you have a license to drive a small sedan, you can also drive a large sedan.” It is hard to believe such remark was made by the defense minister. Yoon is the one who has the best knowledge about the military power of our forces, our reliance on U.S. troops, shifting ROK-U.S. alliance and nuclear threats more than anyone. So it makes us wonder how Yoon could have compared such a major change on military deterrent capacity that will follow after the transfer of wartime command just as a matter of driving a bigger sedan. If Yoon’s remark was made just an attempt to please President Roh to be appointed to another high profile post, he should be held responsible for playing with the people and national security.

South Korea has been suffering from chronic insensitivity on national security. It is because both the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations have made the people accustomed to false peace with their “Sunshine Policy,” and “Engagement Policy.” As we clearly witnessed from North Korea’s nuclear weapons test, South Korea lacks intelligence as the country depends some 90 percent of its military intelligence on the U.S. And there is also no guarantee that the U.S. will provide allegedly mentioned nuclear umbrella and the reinforcement of 690,000 troops in the event of a war in Korea. Despite all this, the president and defense minister are still anesthetizing the security alert of the people.