Seo Wook, Minister of National Defense, Says "Military Missions Remain the Same Even if the Regime Changes"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Seo Wook (59), Minister of National Defense, will leave the Ministry of National Defense as early as the 10th. After 41 years of military service, Minister Seo Wook, returning to civilian life, apologized to the public several times during his approximately 1 year and 8 months in office due to numerous incidents and accidents.

On the 9th, Minister Seo said in an interview, "Even if the administration changes, the military's fundamental mission to protect the country and the people remains the same. I hope the political circles will also protect the military so that it can maintain that core."

Despite embarrassing incidents occurring within the military, he urged not to be swayed by political logic and to faithfully carry out the military's duties. Minister Seo had to face many incidents and accidents during his tenure.

The late Sergeant Lee Ye-ram case is a representative example. Minister Seo said, "It is true that there were embarrassing incidents such as the death caused by sexual violence," but added, "Although some matters are still ongoing, it became an opportunity to take a closer look inside the military, and I believe we did what needed to be done someday."

Earlier, the reality of 'poor meals' was also exposed. At that time, Minister Seo repeatedly urged subordinate units to treat their subordinates like their own children or siblings, but poor meals continued. Eventually, he issued a public apology to the people.

During the regime change period, the Ministry of National Defense building had to be vacated. With President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's office suddenly decided to move to Yongsan, the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, had to conduct a 'chain relocation' like a military operation within about a month. At the same time, North Korea resumed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) provocations and even showed signs of nuclear testing, raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula higher than ever.

Regarding this, Minister Seo explained, "Although the move has been made, the Ministry of National Defense organization is scattered in many places, so I think it is necessary to rearrange so that work can be done in at least two places." He added, "I understand that the opinion that medium- to long-term relocation is necessary is being proposed and promoted to the next government as well."

However, Minister Seo refuted some criticisms that the ROK-US alliance weakened under the current government, saying, "I cannot agree." In particular, regarding criticism that combined ROK-US exercises were reduced during the current administration, he explained, "The only change was the suspension of live-fire exercises at the brigade level or higher, triggered by North Korea's nuclear and ICBM moratorium at the beginning of this administration." He added, "This was not a unilateral decision by Korea but was based on consultations between South Korea and the U.S. at that time."

He continued, "We actually conducted more small-scale exercises below the brigade level, so I do not agree with the criticism that exercises were not conducted at all." Regarding the situation with North Korea, he said, "Recent trends related to nuclear testing have continued to be identified, making it difficult to ease tensions," and predicted, "Since the moratorium has already been broken, there is a possibility of unrestrained actions going forward."

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