Women’s leadership in warfare

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is being attacked by women. The commander of the U.S. 17th Air Force who is leading air strikes on Libya is a woman, as is the first pilot who sallied into Libya aboard a state-of-the-art fighter of the British air force. Many of the more than 20 French fighter pilots who joined the air strikes are women. In addition, the Spanish defense minister who leads the Spanish armed forces in the Libyan operation, the head of the White House National Security Council, the U.S. secretary of state, and the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., who persuaded the White House, the Arab League, and the U.N. for military intervention in Libya, are all women.

In 2008, Robert Kaplan, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told the World Women’s Forum in Seoul that the role of women in the military will gradually grow. This is because modern warfare is shifting to cyber war in which a click of a button can spell doom for the enemy. Kaplan said most unmanned American fighters are controlled by women. The Libyan operation by coalition forces shows that this prediction is being rapidly realized.

Korea is no exception in this trend. More women are joining the military and playing increasingly bigger roles. The number of commissioned women officers in the Korean armed forces is 3,236 and that of female noncommissioned officers 3,362, accounting for 3.7 percent of the entire military. The figure is likely to increase to 5.6 percent in 2016 and 6.3 percent in 2020. About 10 percent of cadets in the military, naval and air force academies are women and the Reserve Officers Training Corps now accept women. Women have penetrated all military branches except for special forces, artillery and armored units. Last year, the combat branch produced its first woman general.

Many say the sharp sense, strong sense of responsibility and detailed leadership of women are not only enhancing combat capabilities, but are also changing military culture by improving troop management. The power of women eager to meet challenges is growing in the military. If this trend continues, Korea will soon see the emergence of woman commanders, chiefs of staff and defense minister. This might prompt discussion on subjecting women to the draft.

Editorial Lee Jin-nyong (jinnyong@donga.com)