Acting Minister of National Defense System... Is There Any Impact on Readiness?

As the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 14th, the military authorities have been closely monitoring the possibility of North Korea taking advantage of the confusion to provoke, and have stepped up their preparedness against the North.

Acting Minister of National Defense Kim Seon-ho is drinking water during the December 3 Yoon Seok-yeol insurrection incident-related inquiry held at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 11th. From the left, Kim Dong-hyeok, Chief Prosecutor of the Ministry of National Defense, Acting Minister Kim, and Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

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When President Yoon declared martial law on the 3rd, the military issued a 'Level 2 Alert' but later downgraded the alert level while maintaining a heightened state of vigilance in various sectors compared to peacetime. Once the impeachment resolution is delivered to the Presidential Office, the command authority over the armed forces immediately transfers to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who acts as the presidential authority.

The military command authority refers to the command over the armed forces, and like other presidential powers, it transfers directly to Prime Minister Han without any separate procedures, ensuring no power vacuum occurs. All defense and security-related reports, including those on North Korean military movements, will be directed to Prime Minister Han as before. The exercise of military command authority by the Prime Minister due to the National Assembly’s approval of the presidential impeachment motion is not unprecedented, having occurred eight years ago in 2016 and twenty years ago in 2004. However, this time, with the Minister of National Defense position also vacant ahead of the president, Deputy Minister Kim Sun-ho is acting as the minister, creating an unprecedented 'simultaneous acting president and defense minister system.'

As those nominated to succeed the detained former Minister Kim Yong-hyun have repeatedly declined the position, the situation is such that both the military commander and the defense chief will continue to hold 'acting' status for the time being. Even considering only the Ministry of National Defense, an acting system of this kind is unprecedented.

Regarding the United States Forces Korea (USFK), the new commander, Xavier Brunson, is scheduled to take office on the 20th, succeeding Commander Paul LaCamera. Concerns have been raised that the overlap of South Korea’s political situation and the change in US military leadership could increase the risk of North Korea making a strategic miscalculation.

Deputy Minister Kim Sun-ho is expected to reaffirm the preparedness against the North and strengthen the command system by presiding over meetings with key commanders across the military to ensure there is no security vacuum. The military emphasizes that the troops involved in the martial law incident were from units primarily assigned to counter-terrorism missions, and that forces deployed in frontline contact areas are unrelated, so there is no issue with the preparedness against the North.

Deputy Minister Kim is also expected to meet or have phone conversations soon with Commander LaCamera and other US military leaders to review the combined defense posture and confirm that the cohesion of the South Korea-US alliance will not be affected by the current martial law situation.

Commander LaCamera, seemingly aware of the special nature of the current situation, stated during a video conference with Deputy Minister Kim on the 12th, "We reaffirm that we are fully prepared to defend the people of the Republic of Korea," and emphasized, "Joint training, activities, and operations will not be curtailed by external factors."

Previously, when the impeachment motions against President Park Geun-hye in 2016 and President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 passed the National Assembly, the military immediately held commanders’ meetings chaired by the Minister of National Defense and took measures to strengthen readiness through high-level military meetings between South Korea and the US. This time, the difference is that the acting minister is taking charge. Unless signs of North Korean provocations are detected, South Korea and the US will not raise the defense readiness condition known as 'DEFCON,' but considering the special circumstances, they are expected to allocate more resources to monitoring North Korean activities through aerial reconnaissance, cyber security, and intelligence analysis.

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