New top commander post to raise interoperability

The South Korean military plans to name a new top commander to coordinate operations of the three armed forces branches.

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary session Tuesday that the Defense Ministry will appoint a four-star general as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to assist the chairman`s operational and military command.

"The vice chairman will be in charge of military intelligence, strategic intelligence, operational command and planning," Kim said.

Under the plan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff will be reorganized with two vice chairmen -- one four-star general and one three-star general -- assisting the chairman. The Act on the Organization of National Armed Forces stipulates that the Joint Chiefs of Staff have three vice chairmen under the top commander, but just one vice chairman has been appointed alternately among three-star admirals or generals in the Navy and Air Force.

The first vice chairman will act as de facto commander of the joint forces and take charge of the key tasks of operational planning and command. An Army four-star general will likely be appointed as first vice chairman, while the three-star second vice chairman`s post for military administration will likely be alternated between the Navy and Air Force.

In addition, the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Forces will be reorganized as the combat command headquarters and the combat support headquarters. The former headquarters will focus on intelligence, operations and communications while the latter will supervise administrative missions involving education, personnel, logistics and policies.

The Defense Ministry had originally planned to create an Armed Forces Education Command to improve interoperability among the three branches, but scrapped the plan because a joint military university is expected to play that role.

At the parliamentary session, ruling and opposition party lawmakers blasted Air Force Chief of Staff Park Jong-heon for causing confusion over the plan Defense Reform 307 because of his proposal for a revision.

Ruling Grand National Party Rep. Kim Ok-iee asked if the military reported the reform plan to President Lee Myung-bak without even reaching a consensus among the heads of the three armed forces. Minister Kim explained that the reform plan was sufficiently discussed.

Main opposition Democratic Party Rep. Shin Hak-yong, ruling party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and others demanded that the minister recommend that the president fire Kim Tae-hyo, presidential secretary for national security strategy, for threatening to dismiss commanders who object to the defense reform.

Minister Kim said the secretary will no longer make such comments.

In a luncheon meeting with members of an association of retired lawmakers, President Lee Myung-bak reiterated his commitment to defense reform.

"The country will never have a chance to reform the military if it fails to do it now even after the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island incidents," he said, referring to North Korea`s two deadly attacks on South Korea last year.

polaris@donga.com