S. Korea to establish ‘strategic command’ to control 3-axis system

Jul 07, 2022, 09:14 am

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President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks at a meeting of top commanders held at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 6, 2022./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Wednesday that South Korea needs to build a strong military force and maintain a firm readiness posture, during a meeting with top commanders held for the first time since taking office in May.

“We must build a strong military force that can reliably deter and respond to any provocations from North Korea and maintain a firm readiness posture,” the president said in a meeting with top commanders held at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters.

This is the first time that a meeting of top commanders was held at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, where the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force are located. A president had never presided over a meeting of top commanders until the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Since the Lee Myung-bak administration, a president has presided over a meeting of top commanders at the Ministry of National Defense and the Blue House once during his tenure. Yoon’s Gyeryongdae visit is seemingly aimed at stressing the nation’s strong national defense capabilities.

“The security situation in the Republic of Korea is grave now. North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are worsening, and security uncertainties in Northeast Asia is growing more than ever,” Yoon said, stressing that the country needs to secure a strong defense capability.

In order to achieve such goal, President Yoon ordered the South Korean military to swiftly and firmly punish North Korea in the event that it carries out a provocation. “It is the military’s mission to defend the people’s lives, property, territory and sovereignty at all costs, and that we must firmly show our resolve to do so,” he said. “We need to come up with fundamental countermeasures against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” he added. Yoon called for building a strong response capability that includes the three-axis system to deter North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons and missiles.

In response, the defense ministry reported Yoon a plan to establish a “strategic command” as an overarching organ to implement its “three-axis” defense system. The three-axis system refers to Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, an operational plan to incapacitate the North Korean leadership in a major conflict; the Kill Chain preemptive strike platform; and the Korea Air and Missile Defense system.

The ministry seeks to come up with a specific plan for the establishment next year and launch it in 2024.

If created, the command is expected to oversee the operations of the country’s current and future core military assets, including F-35A radar-evading fighters, reconnaissance satellites, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors and Hyunmoo-type ballistic missiles.

#Yoon Suk-yeol #3-axis system #strategic command