Ex-Officials Blast Command Transfer

A total of 71 former high-ranking senior members of Korean armed forces issued a statement for the government on August 31 and called for the immediate stop in its effort to redeem wartime operational control. Among them were 63 reserve generals, including former Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Army Chief of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Air Force Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Commander in Chief of ROK-US Combined Forces Command and eight reserve Vice Admirals, including the former commander of the Marine Corps.

Along with last month’s event when the nation’s 13 former Ministers of Defense issued a statement opposing the return of wartime control, it is the first time that four-star generals and top-level executives in the Korean military issued a joint statement criticizing the government’s security policy since the creation of the Korean armed forces.

They said in the statement, “In the name of ‘self-reliance,’ which is just absurd because nobody can understand why the Roh administration is now inciting and misguiding the Korean people as if return of wartime operational control is as good as the independent movement that the Korean people waged to restore the nation’s sovereignty from Japan’s colonial rule in the past.” They added in the statement, “We cannot repress our astonishment and anger to see the government proceeding the issue, which can decide the nation’s fate, in the way that North Korea desperately wants to see.”

They also said, “We are feeling infuriation beyond concern to see President Roh is saying an unrealistic story without any hesitation that ‘even if wartime control is returned immediately, it will cause no problem.’ And we are strongly urge that the decision on this matter be delayed until the next administration.”

They were voicing their concern that, “If Korea regains wartime operational control at a time when the security crisis is escalating due to rumors of North Korea’s preparation for a nuclear experiment, it will lead to the disintegration of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, which has the world’s best capability to deter a North Korean attack, and then security will be further destabilized and a severe blow will be dealt to the economy.”

They said, “With independent exercises of wartime operational control and defense reform, the Korean people will have to pay 12.5 million won per person by 2020, and at the request of the U.S. the defense budget share for Korea will increase by 170 billion won every year.” And they pointed out, “It is a huge problem if the Korean people should bear enormously large amounts of additional financial burden due to the President’s wish for self-reliant defense.”

Those reserve generals said, “If the government is to continue to pursue the return of wartime operational control, it should make an agreement in principal during the Korea-U.S. summit scheduled at the end of this month and the annual ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) held in October without setting a date for return and it should be pursued on the premise that return of wartime control is not discussed for political interest.”

ysh1005@donga.com