[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Can the Military Remodel the 22nd Division?

The Ministry of National Defense has undertaken a complete overhaul of the Army's 22nd Infantry Division, where the surveillance network was repeatedly breached, but concerns are rising that this may once again be a "mere verbal measure."

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense has undertaken a complete overhaul of the Army's 22nd Infantry Division, whose surveillance network has been repeatedly breached, but concerns are rising that this may once again be a 'mere verbal measure.'

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, the unit, which recently faced harsh criticism for missing a North Korean man who swam across the East Sea and moved inland in South Korea, is planned to be transformed to a level equivalent to a 'reestablishment' through a high-intensity diagnosis in various aspects such as personnel adequacy.

This work is led by the Defense Reform Office of the Ministry of National Defense, with experts from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Army Headquarters participating, and it is known that the inclusion of civilian experts in related fields is also being considered as needed.

However, as part of Defense Reform 2.0, the Ministry plans to disband the 23rd Division in the Samcheok area and its superior unit, the 8th Corps, by the end of the year. Some argue that if the 23rd Division is disbanded, the responsibility area of the 22nd Division will inevitably increase further.

The 22nd Division is the only unit in the entire army responsible for both front-line surveillance posts (GP) in the Demilitarized Zone and general outposts (GOP) for coastal surveillance. Its responsibility area covers 30 km on land at the front and 70 km along the coast, totaling 100 km. Compared to other GOP divisions whose responsibility areas range from 25 to 40 km, this is considered excessively wide.

Moreover, unlike other GOP divisions composed of two brigades and one reserve brigade assigned to surveillance duties, the 22nd Division deploys all three brigades to both land and coastal surveillance without a reserve brigade. This is because the 22nd Division reduced its personnel by about 1,000 without considering the special environment where its surveillance responsibility area is 2 to 4 times wider than that of a typical division.

The Ministry of National Defense is also known to verify the performance of scientific coastal surveillance equipment of the 22nd Division this time. However, there are criticisms that establishing discipline is more important than equipment performance. On the 16th of last month, when a North Korean man landed on the coast, the situation room monitor sounded an alarm twice, but the video surveillance soldier judged it as a false alarm caused by natural phenomena.

Problems will continue. The Ministry of National Defense intends to transfer coastal surveillance duties to the Coast Guard. The Army conducted a pilot transfer of surveillance duties in the Buan area of Jeonbuk in 2014. The results showed that about 8,600 personnel from the 35th Division were needed for coastal surveillance, but the Coast Guard had only about 50 personnel. This indicates that the Coast Guard's manpower and equipment are grossly insufficient.

The military is also considering a compromise plan to transfer duties only from Dangjin on the West Coast to Uljin on the East Coast due to the Coast Guard's lack of surveillance capability. However, if defection or infiltration incidents occur in rear areas, it could lead to controversies over the shifting of responsibility between the military and the Coast Guard.

The military has announced plans to establish operational discipline among personnel conducting surveillance operations following this failure on the eastern front, but criticisms continue that the measures are no different from those taken during the Ganghwa Island defection incident and that no fundamental solution has been found.

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