Review of Promotion from Lieutenant to Captain for GP Officers

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu]The military authorities are considering raising the rank of the guard post (GP) commander, who is responsible for the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) surveillance posts, from lieutenant to captain.

According to military officials on the 29th, the Ministry of National Defense is reviewing a plan to raise the rank of the GP commander by one level to strengthen the on-site response capability of the GP.

The promotion of the GP commander's rank, which has been steadily discussed in the past, is now being actively reviewed following criticism that the "action first, report later" directive was not properly applied during the response to the North Korean army's GP shooting incident on the 3rd of last month.

The on-site commander refers to ranks from captain, who can command the site, up to division commander (major general) level. It was pointed out that the GP commander, currently at the platoon leader level (lieutenant), was not an on-site commander and therefore could not immediately order return fire.

During the North Korean shooting, it took about 20 minutes from hearing gunfire at the GP to conducting return fire and broadcasting warnings. It took about 10 minutes to detect bullet traces and respond with return fire, which was somewhat delayed due to the process of reporting from the GP to higher units.

The military stated that return fire was carried out based on the judgment of the on-site commander (person responsible for command) at the time.

However, some express concerns that if the GP commander, who is at the platoon leader level, is promoted to captain while the company commander of the company to which the GP belongs is already a captain, the command structure could become unclear. Therefore, if the GP commander's rank is raised, an overall adjustment of the front-line unit organization is expected to be necessary.

A military official explained, "We are reviewing a plan to elevate the GP commander to an on-site commander to enhance response capability," adding, "If the rank promotion is decided, the seniority of the captain assigned as the GP commander will also be determined based on personnel decisions."

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