Yoon calls for 'massive' military upgrades at defense committee launch

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered a "large-scale change" in military hardware and software to create a "strong combat-type army" in the inaugural defense innovation committee Thursday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, presents a letter of appointment to former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, who was appointed as vice chair of the new presidential Defense Innovation Committee, ahead of presiding over its inaugural meeting at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered a "large-scale change" in military hardware and software to create a "strong combat-type army" in the inaugural Defense Innovation Committee Thursday.

Yoon also reiterated his plan to establish a strategic command to better operate the three branches of the military in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as he formally launched the new presidential committee tasked with guiding the implementation of new technologies and cyber security protocols in the armed forces.

"The security environment is changing rapidly, such as North Korea's escalating nuclear threat, and science and technology are changing rapidly around the world," Yoon said presiding over the meeting at the Yongsan presidential office. "Above all, we must possess overwhelming power to suppress North Korea's provocations in advance."

Kim Kwan-jin, a retired four-star general known for his hardline stance against Pyongyang, was appointed as the vice chair of the committee in an inauguration ceremony ahead of the meeting. He served as defense minister in the Lee Myung-bak administration and later became Blue House National Security Office in the Park Geun-hye government.

Kim was convicted in 2019 of political meddling by ordering the military cyber command to post online comments supporting the conservative Lee administration during the 2012 parliamentary and presidential elections.

Yoon chairs the 11-member committee, established under a presidential decree last December, which is also comprised of his national security adviser, defense minister and experts from the private sector.

It is tasked with formulating defense innovation plans, facilitating policy coordination between ministries and communicating with public sectors and securing related budgets and legislations.

This is in line with the Defense Ministry's own Defense Innovation 4.0 initiative aimed at acquiring advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to strengthen overall defense capabilities amid potential manpower shortages in the future.

"The best science and technology occur in the process of defense innovation and development, and is always applied first in the defense sector," said Yoon.

He noted the need for "massive reforms and changes" at the level of the founding of the military across all areas of defense operating systems, software and hardware.

"We will transform our military into an efficient military structure equipped with overwhelming response capabilities against North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats, in line with changes in the internal and external strategic environment, to become a strong military that can fight and win, or one no one will dare to challenge," Yoon said.

He called to "reinforce the military's active deterrence response capabilities" against Pyongyang threats, including through securing reconnaissance assets and analysis capabilities covering all areas of North Korea, high-powered ultra-precision missile capabilities that can accurately hit targets and integrated, multi-layered air defense capabilities.

He ordered improvements to the legislative process for introducing new technologies, better operation of unmanned aerial vehicles and robots, a revamping of military organizations and a drastic improvement of conditions for soldiers.

"After taking office as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I came to think that reform and change were really urgent," said Yoon, who marked the one-year anniversary of his inauguration the previous day.

He said he had benchmarked the Pentagon's advisory panel, the Defense Innovation Board, previously chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Yoon said that the two main goals of defense innovation are "accurate recognition of dangerous situations and strengthening military power by applying state-of-the-art science and technology to our military," said Lee Do-woon, presidential spokesman, in a press briefing later that day.

He also emphasized that "we must clearly know our enemy."

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