As the second anniversary of the Yeonpyeong Island shelling approaches on November 23rd, national security experts are in agreement that South Koreans lack an adequate awareness of national security issues. They point out that overall awareness has been degraded by this year’s presidential candidates, who are all calling for a softer line policy toward North Korea.
For example, Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun Hae has proposed “mutual economic and social exchanges and economic cooperation,” while Democratic United Party candidate Moon Jae In has called for the “protection of the Northern Limit Line through the establishment of the West Sea Joint Fishing Zone.” Meanwhile, independent candidate Ahn Cheol Soo has called for “the institutionalisation of North-South economic cooperation.”
While all three candidates do speak of the importance of national security in their campaigns, their proposed policies toward North Korea actually emphasize North-South exchanges and dialogue. The candidates all believe that putting forward softer policies toward North Korea will garner greater support from voters than emphasis on security issues.
However, many experts believe that more North Korean provocations in the style of the Yeonpyeong Island shelling could occur all too easily if such North Korea policies lead to widespread changes in public opinion. Daily NK spoke to four of them.
▲ Kim Tae Gyo, Korean Institute for Military Affairs
Insensitivity to national security has been an issue in South Korean society for some time now. Inadequate modern history education about why the Korean War began and why North and South Korea became divided is at the heart of the problem. The need for national security education was raised following the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island attacks, but an inadequate legal system has prevented this from becoming a reality.
As a result, it is imperative that we strengthen history and national security education by revising and supplementing the “Patriot Education Act,” which is now with the National Assembly. We need to revise related laws to make sure this education law is reflected in elementary and middle school education laws and the lifetime education law. There is also the need to define in more detail the content of the ethics, society and history courses in elementary, middle and high schools.
▲ Kim Song Man, former ROK Navy commander
The joint fishing zone issue has been raised once again in this presidential campaign. I think the Minister of National Defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should clearly show their positions on this issue. The joint fishing zone, reduction of military service periods and other issues are all sensitive national security problems, and it is imperative that South Koreans have an accurate understanding of them. Furthermore, the military should convey to the public the realities of national security, and clearly state that campaign pledges suggesting a joint fishing zone or reduction in military service period are “not possible.”
The Ministry of National Defense should also criticize the fact that the legislature has taken a passive stance toward recent national security issues. These are national security issues that involve our national existence; they are not a question of the military’s political neutrality.
▲ Song Dae Sung, Sejong Research Institute
National security cannot take a backseat to economic cooperation or dialogue between the two Koreas. As of yet, the North Korean government has not apologized for the murder of Park Wang Ja (at Mt. Geumgang in 2008), the sinking of the Cheonan or the Yeongpyeong Island shelling. Even if the presidential candidates emphasize national security, any move towards economic cooperation or inter-Korean dialogue without first resolving these issues is the same as seriously neglecting it.
North-South economic cooperation can only occur in circumstances where there is strong national security and sufficient trust between the two Koreas. North-South Korean exchanges and cooperation without a North Korean apology for its acts of provocation will bring about a “false peace” on the Korean Peninsula and lead to increased levels of insensitivity toward national security on the part of South Koreans.
Recently, Kim Jong Eun visited North Korean military bases in the West Sea region to encourage soldiers there and examine their military readiness. He also increased the military forces in the region. Moreover, the ongoing task of changing North Korean military leaders is reportedly causing voices of resistance from within the military. It is plausible that North Korea could conduct provocations against the South in an effort to rally the military around Kim Jong Eun. Consequently, national security is the most important viewpoint from which to view things.
▲ Kim Hee Sang, Korea Institute for National Security Affairs
In the U.S. there are many cases in which the Republicans and Democrats are united in terms of foreign policy related to national security. However, in South Korea there are wide differences in policies toward North Korea and national security depending on whether a conservative or liberal administration gains power. Politicians should not adhere to rightist or leftist ideology in issues of national security.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidates seem intent on returning their approach to North Korea to that of the Sunshine Policy. If North Korea refuses to abandon its “hereditary Kim family absolutism,” then the reform and opening we are hoping for will not come about.
South Koreans need to first stop North Korean provocations in order to secure their long-term national security. We have already witnessed the fact that the Sunshine Policy cannot do this, and peace can never be obtained through a soft-line policy. North Korea will find it difficult to conduct provocations if the South Korean government shows its intent to strongly respond to such actions and establishes a robust readiness to defend national security.
