Moon's military maneuvers

By John Burton

While President Moon Jae-in has been trying to promote a policy of reconciliation toward North Korea, known as the Sunshine Policy 2.0 after similar approaches pursued by Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, he is also overseeing a strong defense build-up, dubbed by some as Defense Reform 2.0.

Moon's defense plan is patterned after Defense Reform 2020 launched in 2006 by Roh, under whom the current president served as chief of staff. Previously, South Korea's military structure was heavily tilted toward the Army, whose troops would be expected to do much of the ground fighting in a second Korean War, while the U.S. would provide air and naval support.

But Roh sought to introduce a more balanced structure among South Korea's Army, Navy and Air Force branches to make the country less dependent on the U.S. if a future conflict erupted. He also wanted South Korea to assume operational control of joint allied forces from the U.S. in the case of war.

The military should "strongly push ahead with a reform of the military structure to meet [the requirements] of modern warfare so that it can immediately switch to the offensive if North Korea makes a provocation that crosses the line," said Moon last week in endorsing Roh's vision. Moon added, "It's regretful that we can't deal with North Korean military power and only rely on the combined defense capabilities [with the U.S.] even if we put a lot into military spending."

Defense Reform 2020's goal was to create a smaller, but more self-reliant armed forces with a higher percentage of professional soldiers rather than relying mainly on conscripts. This effort has resulted in increased spending for Navy and Air Force equipment. In many respects, Roh's successors, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, followed the outlines of this policy.

In terms of the Navy, this has meant creating a "Blue Water" fleet that would operate not just close to the Korean Peninsula but in international seas. It now has destroyers equipped with Aegis missile defense systems. Moon would like to add a fleet of nuclear submarines, which was first proposed under Roh.

As for the Air Force, it is being supplied with updated longer-range fighters such as the F-35 to supplement the current force of F-16s and F-15s as well as the acquisition of air refueling aircraft. To improve aerial surveillance of North Korea, Seoul is buying the high-altitude Global Hawk surveillance vehicle and other smaller drones.

Meanwhile, the Army is being beefed up with precision-guided artillery to knock out North Korean batteries that threaten Seoul and bolstering special operations forces and cyber warfare capabilities.

Fulfilling Roh's initial vision is why Moon has proposed increasing defense spending this year to nearly $39 billion. This represents 2.9 percent of gross domestic product, which would be the biggest military budget since the mid-1980s when General Chun Doo-hwan was in power.

A good chunk will be going to big-ticket defense systems, including the Kill Chain, Korean Air and Missile Defense and Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation programs. These related projects involve assembling a strike force of ballistic and cruise missiles, air power and commando units to destroy North Korea's nuclear arsenal and the Pyongyang leadership, while protecting South Korea against missile attacks from the North through upgraded Patriot missile batteries as well as the U.S. THAAD system. The Moon administration is hoping to complete the installation of the "three-axis" system by the early 2020s.

Although North Korea has a bigger military force on paper, with more aircraft, tanks, artillery and warships than South Korea, most of these weapons are out of date and would be no match for Seoul's more modern armed forces.

Efforts will continue to increase the number of professional soldiers in the army, who now fill about 40 percent of the ranks. To attract more long-term recruits, the government wants to improve pay and living conditions.

But some military experts worry about some aspects of the defense plan. As part of its plan to promote a more professional force with fewer draftees, the government is proposing cutting back the enlistment period _ and thus training _ for Army conscripts from 21 months to 18 months and a similar reduction for Air Force and Navy personnel.

Moreover, in reducing the number of soldiers, the biggest cutbacks have been in logistical units instead of frontline troops. That has caused worries since logistics usually determines the outcomes of wars. As U.S. General John Pershing said, "infantry wins battles, logistics wins wars."

As it is, South Korea's infantry is being shortchanged. While money is being lavished on sophisticated military weaponry, its soldiers are still carrying a rifle, the K2, which is more than 30 years old and has not been greatly modified since its introduction. While North Korean soldiers are carrying an even older weapon, the AK-47, it is being continually updated and is regarded as one of the dependable guns in the world.

John Burton, a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant. He can be reached at johnburtonft@yahoo.com.