Defense Minister Seo Wook: "Strict Maintenance of Political Neutrality"

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]Defense Minister Seo Wook has ordered all military generals to strictly maintain 'political neutrality' ahead of next year's presidential election. This remark appears to be made with the awareness of the noise already arising over some current and former military personnel's involvement in political circles or presidential election campaigns ahead of next year's election.

In his opening remarks at the '2021 Year-end All-Army Senior Commanders Meeting' held on the morning of the 10th at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Minister Seo said, "The military has fulfilled its role as the last bastion of national security under any circumstances," and added, "I urge you to be especially careful with your words and actions so that the military does not become the center of political controversy."

Minister Seo seemed conscious of the various incidents and accidents such as poor meals and sexual violence that occurred in the military this year, reflecting, "It was literally a tumultuous year."

He continued, "We must pay special attention to ensuring that improvement measures such as the soldiers' meal system, sexual violence prevention, and victim protection systems are practically implemented and established in the field," and said, "Please take seriously the recommendations prepared by the civilian-government-military joint committee (a military culture improvement organization) and actively promote them with a sense of urgency."

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the subsequent meeting included an evaluation of the "current defense environment centered on Northeast Asian neighboring countries." This is interpreted as an assessment related to the recent intensifying US-China conflict situation.

Regarding North Korea, it was evaluated that "Kim Jong-un is consolidating his 10-year regime, focusing on internal unity and public safety by encouraging the achievement of the five-year economic development plan goals, while continuing to advance nuclear capabilities and missile research and development under South Korea and US situation management."

Regarding next year's military tasks, the military added, "We will continuously supplement the ROK-US joint 'tailored deterrence strategy' for deterring and responding to nuclear and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threats, as well as our military's 'nuclear and WMD response system.'"

The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Won In-chul, chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marine Corps Commandant, as well as key commanders and staff from the Ministry of National Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and each military branch. Considering the COVID-19 situation, some participants attended via video conference.

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