Military and Security Posture Review by Yoon: "Full Response to North Korea's Repeated Provocations" (Comprehensive)

Presiding Over Central Integrated Defense and Military Key Commanders Meeting
Reviewing Real-World Response According to North Korean Provocation Scenarios

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the 57th Central Integrated Defense Meeting held on the 31st. [Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol spent the entire day on the 31st inspecting the military and security posture, taking steps to respond to a series of provocations by North Korea. North Korea conducted a cruise missile test launch over the West Sea, escalating threats of provocation from the beginning of the year and reinforcing the need to establish an integrated defense posture. Especially this year, with the South Korean general election in April and the U.S. presidential election in November approaching, there is a possibility that North Korea may provoke to interfere in the elections, which is interpreted as a message that the civilian government, public sector, and military must unite to establish an all-out security posture and respond accordingly.

On the same day, President Yoon presided over the 57th Central Integrated Defense Meeting at the State Guest House in the morning, ordering a significant strengthening of the national security posture, saying, "The North Korean regime is expected to carry out various provocations for election interference this year, including provocations in border areas, fake news, and cyberattacks."

The Central Integrated Defense Meeting is a conference where key officials from the civilian government, public sector, military, and police gather in one place to review and discuss measures to improve the national integrated defense posture in preparation for threats such as enemy infiltration and provocations. President Yoon presided over the meeting this year as well as last year. This year, for the first time, 11 members of the public observer group participated to mark the beginning of "Integrated Defense with the People."

In his opening remarks, President Yoon pointed out, "The North Korean regime is the only irrational group in the world that has legalized the preemptive use of nuclear weapons," adding, "It shows anti-national, anti-unification, and historically regressive behavior that denies even the nation itself, regardless of the consequences, solely to maintain the hereditary totalitarian regime." He continued, "When a security crisis occurs, we must strengthen the national all-out preparedness system in which the civilian government, public sector, military, and police cooperate."

In particular, as North Korea's provocations have become more frequent recently, the government significantly changed the format of this year's meeting to assume North Korea's provocation scenarios and review practical responses. President Yoon presided over the Central Integrated Defense Meeting in the morning and a meeting of key military commanders in the afternoon, making it an unusual event for the president to attend security events throughout the day. About 170 key officials from the central government, local governments, the National Intelligence Service, each military branch, the National Police Agency, the Coast Guard, the Fire Agency, and civilian experts attended this meeting.

Inseonghwan, the Second Deputy Director of the National Security Office, explained at a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office the day before, "(The president) allocates the entire day to security schedules to receive comprehensive reports and conduct inspections from the military and government as the commander-in-chief, reflecting the recognition that the current security situation is severe."

President Yoon emphasized, "Now, almost all citizens' lives are connected online, so cyberattacks can paralyze national functions and citizens' daily lives in an instant. Therefore, I will listen to opinions from the field and thoroughly discuss measures to preemptively block cyberattacks on critical national infrastructure, fake news, and false propaganda and agitation."

Park Yong-han, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), said, "Since the election can trigger conflicts among the South Korean people, conducting substantial training under the president's leadership and reviewing the security posture will also have a deterrent message effect against North Korea."

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