Yoon: "Thoroughly Crush Fake News... Check North Korea Nuclear Response Capability" (Update)

Four-Day Eulji Exercise Conducted "National Total War Execution Drill... Need for Civil-Military Joint Effort"
Warning Against Non-Physical Threats Like Fake News... "Must Thoroughly Crush and Unite Public Opinion"

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 21st, "It is more important than anything else to thoroughly crush fake news, disguised peace offensives, and propaganda agitation, and to unite public opinion." He ordered the government’s response posture for the four-day Ulchi Exercise starting that day, and regarding the 'North Korea nuclear response drill' held for the first time this year, he instructed, "Make sure to thoroughly check the national response capability."

On the morning of the same day, at the Yongsan Presidential Office building, President Yoon conveyed detailed guidelines to the Cabinet members in preparation for the Ulchi Exercise, saying, "The Ulchi Exercise is a national total war exercise to maintain government functions, support military operations, and stabilize citizens' lives in the event of war."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Eulji and the 35th Cabinet Meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the 21st.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Ulchi Exercise is a government-led emergency preparedness drill conducted once a year nationwide to assess national crisis management capabilities and to practice wartime mission procedures in response to security threats such as war or incidents. The Ulchi Exercise is also conducted in connection with the joint exercise by South Korea and U.S. military authorities called 'Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS).'

On this day, President Yoon identified 'fake news' as the greatest threat factor in war. Unlike last year's Ulchi Exercise, which was the first since his inauguration and emphasized only preparedness against 'cyberattacks on national core information and communication facilities,' this year he asked to also address non-physical social chaos caused by fake news.

In fact, President Yoon emphasized, "Today's wars show a mixed pattern of all wars, including psychological warfare and public opinion warfare using fake news, irregular warfare accompanied by terrorism, cyber warfare conducted in cyberspace, and conventional warfare combined with nuclear threats," adding, "It is absolutely necessary for the civilian, government, and military sectors to work together to enhance the capability to conduct a national total war."

He also issued a warning message regarding threats using North Korea's 'fake news.' President Yoon said, "North Korea will cause severe social chaos and division from the early stages of war by using disguised peace offensives, spreading fake news, and propaganda agitation through anti-state forces," expressing concern that "this could lead to a situation where rapid wartime transition is hindered and defeat occurs before a full-scale fight even begins." He then stated, "It is more important than anything else to thoroughly crush fake news, disguised offensives, and propaganda agitation, and to unite public opinion."

He also urged thorough preparation for the North Korea nuclear response drill conducted for the first time at the government level this year. President Yoon said, "North Korea will mobilize all available means to achieve its war objectives and will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons," and added, "Please promote the nuclear alert dissemination system and citizen action guidelines, and firmly check the national response capability for citizen rescue and treatment."

He criticized the previous administration for downsizing and implementing the Ulchi Exercise and gave an evaluation that it has been "normalized." He said, "It has been upgraded one step further into an integrated exercise involving civilians, government, and military with the participation of the entire nation," and ordered improvements in protection measures for nationally important facilities involving citizen participation. Mentioning nuclear power plants, advanced industrial facilities, and national communication networks, he expressed concern that "if they are destroyed by missiles, drones, or cyberattacks, it would cause enormous disruption to our war sustainability and citizens' lives."

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