South Korea military faces scrutiny amid officer arrests

The highest-ranking officer in the South Korean military visited the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, ostensibly to confirm the readiness of the South's troops as they face their North Korean adversaries.

The visit by Admiral Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also served to communicate that despite the turmoil in South Korean politics — which has also engulfed top military commanders — the nation's armed forces are not as brittle and unprepared as some have suggested.

Sending a message that South Korea's armed forces remain on alert comes at a critical time for the republic, with some of the nation's top military commanders under arrest, dismissed from their positions, or the subject of investigations in connection with President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3 — which remained in place for only six hours.

Military links to martial law

To many South Koreans, the botched putsch was an uncomfortable reminder of the often harsh rule exercised by a series of military dictatorships in Seoul during the 1970s and '80s.

With Yoon sidelined after an impeachment vote on Saturday and now under formal investigation, questions are being asked about how much the military knew in advance of his plan.

On Monday, former head of the Special Warfare Command Kwak Jong-geun, and former head of the Capital Defense Command Lee Jin-woo were arrested on charges of deploying military personnel to the parliament.

Former chief of the Defense Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyung has been accused of orchestrating the implementation of martial law, and army chief Park An-su has been suspended from his role.

Yoon's former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who stepped down immediately following the aborted martial law declaration, and former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min also face investigations.

To worsen the alarm in some circles that the military is effectively rudderless, Kim Yong-hyun has been replaced by his former deputy, Kim Seon-ho, who is now serving as the acting defense minister.

Yoon's impeachment has "sparked concerns over the readiness of the military against North Korean threats as it now faces an unprecedented gap in its top leadership," according to an article by the Yonhap News Agency.

Changes in US military leadership in South Korea, too  

It added that the situation is further complicated by the head of US forces in South Korea also undergoing a change, with Gen. Paul LaCamera scheduled to be replaced next week by Gen. Xavier Brunson.

In a press briefing on Monday, a Defense Ministry spokesman replied to a question about the military's readiness and the impact of the political crisis by saying there is "no insufficiency" in the different arms' operational and readiness postures.

Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the Republic of Korea Army and now a senior fellow with the National Institute for Deterrence Studies, supported the belief that despite the dismissal of some of the most senior officers in the military, the institution has stood firm.

"Through my personal contacts and relationships in the Korean armed forces, I know that at the tactical level, they know very well what their mission is and they are focused on their jobs," he told DW.

"What has happened is very unfortunate, but my position is that politicians dragged the military into this situation and I am thankful that the soldiers' hearts were not in it and it ended quickly," he said.

"The tragedy is that the senior officers who should have shielded the rest of the military from the politicians failed to do that and it seems that some of them participated in the planning of the declaration of martial law," Chun said.

"But the ranks below have all stepped up and filled the gaps, showing that the system is in place and works," he added. "And while I do not say I have no concerns, I want to emphasize that everyone in the military is fully focused on doing their job."

Chun also said he has not been surprised by North Korea's relatively muted response to the political crisis in the South, along with its failure to try to provoke its neighbor with some sort of action on the border.

Uniting the nation

"The North knows that we are experiencing a political fight domestically, but they also realize that if they tried to do something then that would only serve to unite South Koreans against this external threat," he said.

"And it might even give the US a reason to beef up its own military presence on the peninsula, and Pyongyang does not want that."

Park Jung-won, a professor of law at Dankook University, agrees that the nation appears to have weathered the immediate instability caused by Yoon's declaration and that the fundamentals of the republic have held firm in the face of serious challenges.

"The principles of respect for the law have been followed and we have to applaud that because they worked as they were designed to," he said. "In the dictatorships of the past, the military was in control, but that is no longer the case."

"Of course, this is still a volatile and unpredictable situation, but the nation is following a process and I do not fear that the security situation will worsen because of this," he said. "It may have made some good headlines for a few days, but the rule of law is resilient."

Edited by: Keith Walker