President Lee urges transformation of Korean military in line with modern warfare

President Lee Jae Myung stressed on Thursday that the time has come to transform Korea's military structure and weapon systems to keep pace with modern warfare and strengthen self-reliant national defense.  

"The significance of a military structure that relies on human resources is gradually diminishing," Lee said at a meeting of senior presidential aides, according to presidential senior spokesperson Kang Yu-jung. "The time has come for the military structure and weapon systems to change as well."

Lee was briefed by the Blue House National Security Office on measures to strengthen national defense capabilities in the wake of the Middle East crisis stemming from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including plans to rapidly transition to unmanned combat systems and to innovate Korean forces in preparation for future battlefield scenarios.  

Lee urged the "swift and bold" integration of military academies during the closed-door meeting, Kang said in a press briefing.  

The president has pushed to integrate the Korean Army, Navy and Air Force academies. His administration has also been a proponent of self-reliant national defense by advancing the Korean military's independent capabilities, and earlier this week announced its basic road map to build and deploy its first homegrown nuclear-powered attack submarine by the mid-2030s.

Seoul is also keen on regaining wartime operational control, or Opcon, from Washington within Lee's five-year presidential term.  

"In particular, retraining for military commanders regarding future warfare and advanced weapon systems is essential to transform the field," Lee said, noting that such training also should transform "to keep pace with the changing times."  

He then urged officials to "prepare thoroughly in line with changes in the global defense posture."

Lee also reviewed progress in research on advanced technologies, such as small modular reactors, and told aides to thoroughly prepare for the transition of the military's combat systems and the restructuring and training of personnel, Kang said.  

In a move to showcase its array of advanced military assets, readiness posture and joint operational capabilities, the Ministry of National Defense staged an integrated military firepower drill on Thursday, open to the public.  

Approximately 1,400 troops from 27 units of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, along with 457 pieces of equipment demonstrating ground and air combat capabilities, were deployed for the Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise held at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, Gyeonggi.  

The exercise showcased the military's K2 tank, K9A1 self-propelled howitzers, KF-21 fighter jets and Chunmoo multiple-launch rocket system, as well as its unmanned and AI capabilities for modern warfare, such as suicide and surveillance drones and multi-legged robots.

This marks the first integrated live-fire exercise staged under the Lee government. Some 1,900 people attended, including 400 civilian observers. The exercise followed two similar ones last week.  

The large-scale integrated military firepower exercise, which dates back to 1977, is typically conducted about once per administration. It was not held during the liberal Moon Jae-in administration, while the Yoon Suk Yeol administration conducted the largest-scale drill to date in 2023.

The two-part exercise included defensive and offensive operations. The first part simulated a surprise attack by an enemy, in which an AI-driven command center issued strike orders based on data collected by reconnaissance drones and radar. Troops then employed a combination of ground and aerial assets, as well as unmanned systems, such as multipurpose unmanned vehicles, to conduct a joint strike.

In the second part, troops demonstrated the suppression of the enemy's mechanized forces through joint firepower, while deploying combined manned and unmanned combat systems.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]