Defense Minister Jeong Gyeong-du Holds Military Leadership Meeting Over Lax Security

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] After a military base was breached by a civilian, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-du urgently convened a meeting of the military leadership.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 17th, the meeting is scheduled to be held in the afternoon. It will diagnose the causes of repeated unauthorized civilian intrusions at air defense posts under the Army Capital Defense Command and discuss measures to prevent recurrence. Attendees include Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Park Han-ki, Army Chief of Staff Seo Uk, Navy Chief of Staff Shim Seung-seop, Air Force Chief of Staff Won In-cheol, and Marine Corps Commander Lee Seung-do.

The military leadership meeting, convened urgently by Minister Jeong, is expected to diagnose recent issues with the military’s security posture and discuss countermeasures.

Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Ministry of National Defense’s regular briefing that "the military is providing significant support in many areas during the difficult situation caused by COVID-19, giving hope and strength to the people," and added, "We deeply regret that such an incident occurred under these circumstances and fully recognize the seriousness of the situation."

The military deployed four personnel from the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Combat Readiness Inspection Office to investigate on the 16th at the Army Capital Defense Command and its subordinate air defense posts, and sent an additional six personnel on the 17th to conduct on-site inspections of security operations and conditions. About ten inspectors from the Capital Defense Command also conducted investigations at the relevant air defense posts and the higher-level air defense battalion.

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The military is primarily verifying whether the measures emphasized by Chairman Park Han-ki at the emergency key commanders’ meeting on the 9th have been implemented.

At that meeting, Chairman Park stated, "Regarding the situation at the Jeju Naval Base, our military’s security operations and readiness posture are non-negotiable even under the severe circumstances of COVID-19," and "I have instructed the entire military to prepare supplementary measures for overall security operations," according to military officials.

The day before, a civilian in his 50s trespassed into a company-level air defense post under the Army Capital Defense Command in the metropolitan area. The civilian, who had gone up the mountain to gather wild vegetables, was intoxicated and dug under the post’s fence to enter. The post only realized this after some delay and apprehended him about an hour later. On the 7th of this month, two civilians cut through the barbed wire fence and trespassed into the Jeju Naval Base.

In January, a man in his 70s unlawfully entered the naval base in Jinhae, Gyeongnam, and wandered around for about an hour and a half. At that time, three military police officers were on duty at the guard post, but Mr. A was not stopped. He was reported to have been suffering from a mental illness.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.