[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Next Month's Joint Chiefs Relocation... Is There No Issue with North Korea Provocations?

On the morning of the 1st, at the Yongsan Joint Chiefs of Staff parade ground in Seoul, during the chairmanship ceremony held before the ROK-US Military Committee meeting, Won In-chul, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea (right), and Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, are saluting.
Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol officially announced on the 20th the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan. Accordingly, the Ministry of National Defense will move to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff will relocate to Namtaeryeong.

On the same day, President-elect Yoon held his first press conference since the launch of the Presidential Transition Committee at the annex of the Korea Financial Training Institute in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, where the transition committee office was set up, and directly announced the "Plan to Relocate the Blue House Presidential Office."

Namtaeryeong, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff will move, is the location of the Capital Defense Command. At Namtaeryeong, there is a bunker where the president and key government officials command war in case of emergency. When the DEFCON (Defense Readiness Condition) level increases in preparation for war, the Capital Defense Command B1 bunker becomes the war command center.

In particular, the Namtaeryeong Capital Defense Command B1 bunker is capable of defending against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks using nuclear weapons. EMP refers to a weapon that can minimize human casualties and disable the electrical and electronic devices of enemy weapons.

The problem is that there is a high possibility of North Korea conducting full-scale provocations while the Joint Chiefs of Staff are relocating. In April, the Day of the Sun (April 15), which is Kim Il-sung's birthday, and the first half of the year ROK-US joint military exercises are scheduled, so North Korea may carry out military provocations as a way of "testing the waters" or "welcoming the new government." Especially, President-elect Yoon has defined the Moon Jae-in administration's Korea peace process policy as a failure and is advocating a tougher North Korea policy, which could increase military tensions around his inauguration in May.

There are growing complaints within the military. A military official said, "It seems the decision was made with the simple idea of just moving to Namtaeryeong," adding, "While the military command moves, all communication and command systems must be relocated and checked, and if a military provocation occurs next month, confusion in the command system is inevitable."

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