This article was originally posted on Jay Press and translated by OKN Correspondent.
It was around the spring of 2010 after the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan. A high-ranking official from the Lee Myung-bak administration visited defector Hwang Jang-yop for advice. “If we push North Korea too hard, won’t they come at us like rats backed into a corner?” Hwang then asked back, “Who is the mouse, and who is the cat? Isn’t North Korea the cat that could set Seoul on fire with their nuclear weapons?”
North Korea is in the process of completing its nuclear weapons system and is about to launch its ‘monster’ new ICBM. This is all due to our lax response, and ultimately, protecting Pyongyang during the Moon Jae-in administration.
They have finally met their match, who I believe is Yoon Seok-youl. “There is no progress in inter-Korean relations through a show of peace with no principles.” The other day, he made a diplomatic and national security pledge, but those weren’t just empty words. Throughout his election campaign, he even nailed down a complete and verifiable denuclearization plan and came out with the best quote. Regarding the North’s ballistic missile launch, he vowed to “bring sense to that kind of impudence.” Of course, he verbalized what was on his mind and I expect him to take a strong stance on diplomacy and security.
The ROK-U.S. alliance, which had been faltering, has already decided to be rebuilt, and the Korea-China relationship, which has been criticized for being pro-China, has settled for mutual respect. The ROK-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation has also been strengthened, so that is headed in the right direction. I’ve been frustrated by talks of cooperation in national unity that keeps coming up these days. Still, it is fortunate that President-elect Yoon is expected to do well at securing the doors to our nation. If we’re not browbeaten by the wolf (North Korea) and the snake (China), it will work out, but what remains as a concern is how to change the military mentality in which the will to fight has been undermined.
The problem is stated by what Hwang Jang-yop had said that we’ve become the mouse in front of the cat. It is my opinion that the South Korean military has long been an honor guard, not a combat force. They [North Korea] had met with Moon Jae-in and the concept of being the main enemy has now dissipated. President-elect Yoon indeed has a lot to do. The September 19 military agreement that left the South open to invasion from the North must be restored to its original state, and the Defense Security Command, one of the pillars of national intelligence, was disbanded and replaced with the Defense Security Support Command, which is another thing to restore back to the original.
To read the original article in Korean, please click here.
