This article was originally published by the Korea Herald.
Number-one priority is to counter existential threat from North Korea’s missiles and nuclear weapons
Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party seeks to establish “peace through power” on the Korean Peninsula, which is the guiding principle of his security and defense strategy.
“Peace cannot be kept without strength,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Kim Yong-hyun, who advises Yoon on defense and security policy and previously served as chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Korea Herald.
Yoon’s top defense policy priority is expeditiously enhancing South Korean military capabilities and taking substantive measures to counter the existential threat from North Korea’s missiles and nuclear weapons.
Yoon simultaneously seeks to strengthen the South Korea-US combined defense posture and interoperability between the two forces and enhance the extended nuclear deterrence from the US.
Yoon puts a premium on the South Korea-US security alliance and South Korea’s onus as an ally. He believes that Seoul should actively participate in the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and endeavor to reinforce trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the US, and Japan.
Top priority: countering N. Korean threat
In essence, Yoon says that South Korea should reformulate its threat calculus and the national defense strategy reflecting North Korea’s capabilities, while preparing for the worst-case scenario – nuclear attack.
“If I am asked what the biggest threat to our people is, I dare to say that it’s the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea,” Kim said.
“We are not in the right direction. We can never protect our people and guarantee the country’s survival and prosperity in this way.”
Among security and defense challenges, Yoon’s number one priority is to take “substantive countermeasures” and enhance the South Korean military’s independent capabilities against these threats.
Yoon plans to establish a “strategic command,” which enables joint forces operations and is responsible for missile defense and targeting, cyber and electronic warfare, and space operations.
Yoon also aims to expeditiously rehabilitate and complete the three-axis system of the Kill Chain, the Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR).
The South Korean military had sought to build up the system by the early 2020s, but it has been postponed. The Moon Jae-in government renamed it the “Nuclear-Weapons of Mass Destruction Response System” in 2019 in line with its efforts for inter-Korean reconciliation.
Deterrence by preemptive strike
In particular, Yoon’s camp believes it is imperative for Seoul to develop preemptive strike capability, known as Kill Chain, largely for two reasons: public safety and stronger deterrence. Yoon wants to be prepared for the possibility of launching a preemptive strike if it becomes necessary.
“If North Korea poses an imminent threat with nuclear weapons and missiles, we should make the first move and launch a preemptive attack to protect our people,” Kim said.
“North Korea’s attack with a single nuclear weapon would cause an irreparable and tremendous catastrophe and kill millions of people in South Korea. As we ought to prevent the scenario, it is imperative to build up preemptive strike capabilities.”
Kim also elucidated that a “firm preemptive strike capability will guarantee much stronger deterrence” than a deterrence by punishment approach, which is the one endorsed by presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
“The preemptive strike plan encompasses the ability to incapacitate the North Korean leadership. Kim Jong-un will not be able to indiscreetly decide to commence an attack if we firmly secure preemptive strike capability.”
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