Candidates tout support from military generals, defense sector

Politics

Published: 02 Mar. 2022, 18:37

Candidates tout support from military generals, defense sector

Former Defense Minister Lee Sang-hoon speaks at a Wednesday afternoon press conference on the steps of the National Assembly in Seoul, where People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol's campaign announced he had the endorsement of some 1,300 retired generals and admirals. [YONHAP]

In the wake of nuclear-armed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, both major Korean presidential candidates touted support from former members of the armed forces and the defense establishment on Wednesday as evidence of their competence to handle security matters, especially when it comes to Pyongyang.

The presidential campaigns of both the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and main opposition People Power Party (PPP) cited the respective numbers of their supporters from the defense sector, as if they were trying to see who could collect the most endorsements.

At an 11 a.m. press conference in front of the National Assembly, the DP said that “70,000 retired officers” from “all different ranks” declared their support for Lee Jae-myung, the party’s presidential candidate for the March 9 election.

The press conference was attended by retired Air Force lieutenant Kim Yong-man, a great-grandson of famed independence movement leader Kim Gu, and former Chief of Naval Operations Boo Suk-jong, who led the country’s Navy until mid-December.

Speaking at the conference, Kim also appeared to take aim at PPP candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, saying that Japanese soldiers “must never be allowed to step foot on Korean soil” in apparent reference to Yoon’s argument that trilateral military cooperation between the United States, Korea and Japan should be strengthened.

If the DP’s press conference aimed to emphasize support for the party’s candidate across ranks, the PPP’s afternoon announcement of endorsements from the defense establishment underlined Yoon’s popularity among retired military brass.

At its own press conference in front of the National Assembly at 2 p.m., the party’s campaign said it had won the support of 1,300 former generals, emphasizing that his high-ranking supporters from the armed forces included 12 former defense ministers, 34 former chiefs of staff and 74 generals.

Among those present at the PPP press conference included former Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Hui-geun, who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War, former Marine Corps Commandant Jun Jin-goo, former Chief of Naval Operations Shim Seung-seob and former Army Chief of Staff Kim Yong-woo.

The endorsement of the PPP candidate by Jun, Shim and Kim was notable considering that all three had served under President Moon Jae-in, whose policy of prioritizing dialogue and engagement with North Korea is supported by the DP contender.

Former Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun, who served as the commander of the strategic headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is now the Yoon campaign’s defense policy chief, called the generals’ endorsement “the largest declaration of support from more than half of the 2,200 members of the Korean Retired Generals and Admirals Association,” adding that the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to generals “voicing their sense of crisis” over Korea’s security.

As he ordered his country’s army to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin told other countries they "will face greater consequences than [they] have ever had in history" if they interfered in the conflict, and reminded them that Russia “remains one of the most powerful nuclear states.”

The implied threat of nuclear retaliation has raised questions about Seoul’s readiness should Pyongyang issue a similar warning in a hypothetical armed conflict between the two Koreas.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]