Without Directly Mentioning the 'North Korea Shooting Atrocity,' President Moon Declares "Firm Response to Threats Against Citizens' Lives"

President Moon at the '72nd Armed Forces Day' Event: "Government and Military to Strengthen Vigilance and Readiness"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] President Moon Jae-in stated in his speech commemorating the '72nd Armed Forces Day' on the 25th, "The government and the military will further strengthen our alert and readiness posture, and I promise the people that we will respond firmly to any acts that threaten the lives and safety of our citizens."

On this day, the Armed Forces Day event drew intense attention regarding what message President Moon would deliver in response to the incident where North Korean forces shot and mutilated the body of a missing South Korean public official. However, President Moon refrained from direct mention and limited his remarks to a principled strengthening of readiness posture, which is expected to spark controversy over whether his stance toward North Korea was passive.

At the event held at the Special Warfare Command in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, President Moon said, "We must establish a strong security posture that no one can challenge with our own strength to create, maintain, and nurture peace." This was the first time in history that the Armed Forces Day event was held at the Special Warfare Command.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon's principled mention of strengthening readiness posture appears to be in consideration of the incident in which a public official missing in the northern West Sea near Soyeonpyeongdo was shot and killed by North Korea.

The Blue House has not disclosed whether President Moon's commemorative speech was partially revised due to this incident, but from the public's perspective, it is unlikely to be perceived as a direct reference. Moreover, the approximately 15-minute speech did not include any words related to the incident or the term 'North Korea.'

Notably, the National Assembly convened an emergency Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee meeting in the afternoon to discuss adopting a statement condemning North Korea's atrocities. Additionally, opposition parties are intensifying their attacks on the Moon Jae-in administration's inadequate measures. Furthermore, Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, criticized the government's insufficient response and demanded the abolition of the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement, drawing nationwide attention to the government's future actions.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon stated, "(The Defense Mid-term Plan) contains the vision and ambition to build an 'innovative strong military that protects and creates peace' by investing 301 trillion won over five years from 2021 to 2025," adding, "The strong power of the future armed forces will be created through our scientific and technological capabilities." President Moon attracted attention by entering the venue aboard a domestically developed tactical command vehicle.

The Blue House explained, "As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he promoted the excellence of domestically produced weapon systems and expressed confidence in the Army's future combat capabilities."

Meanwhile, considering the situation of the 'Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19),' the event was conducted in compliance with the Central Disease Control Headquarters' quarantine guidelines. The number of invited guests was reduced to about 100 from around 3,000 last year. The participating troops were also scaled down to approximately 1,100, about half the average number mobilized over the past three years.

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