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President Yoon Suk-yeol pledges allegiance to the South Korean flag ahead of a briefing on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense at the Blue House on Jan. 11. (courtesy of presidential office)

Recent remarks made by President Yoon Suk-yeol hinting at support for Japan’s new National Security Strategy are causing a stir.

Regarding the Japanese government’s decision to increase defense spending, Yoon said on Wednesday that “with missiles flying overhead and the [possibility of] nuclear weapons [being used by North Korea], it’s not easy to stop all of that.”

Yoon made the comments during his closing remarks at the Blue House guesthouse on Wednesday after he and other officials received briefings from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense.

“Didn’t Japan decide to increase its defense spending and include the so-called counterattack option in its defense plan because of IRBMs flying overhead? Who would say anything about that?” the president asked, referring to intermediate-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea.

Last month, the Japanese government announced a new National Security Strategy that includes the acquisition of “enemy base strike capabilities,” which would allow Japan to launch direct strikes against missile bases in North Korea or China in the event of an emergency. In addition, Tokyo also announced an increase in its defense spending of 2% of its GDP in the next five years.

During his speech, president Yoon repeatedly ordered the military to adopt a firm response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations.

“The most important thing in the three-axis system is KMPR,” referring to Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation.

“If we have this capability and don’t neglect [military] training, then it will be difficult for North Korea to launch an attack,” Yoon said.

“We need to completely suppress [North Korea’s] provocation mentality itself by solidifying KMPR,” the president added.

“The most important way to prevent an attack is to firmly establish a massive punishment and retaliation capability that [allows us to] strike 100 or 1000 times harder in case we do suffer an attack,” Yoon said.

“The right to self-defense against provocations must be exercised resolutely. It is necessary to respond several or even dozens of times in order to effectively exercise the right to self-defense,” the president argued.

“It is not easy for North Korea to wage a long-term all-out war like the war in Ukraine,” Yoon said. “There will be a lot of unexpected soft terrorism that will disturb and politically shake our society,” the president added, possibly bearing in mind the recent incident of a North Korean drone infiltrating South Korean airspace.

As for how to respond to the North Korean nuclear issue, Yoon emphasized that a joint nuclear planning and implementation policy with the US fits the common security interests of both Seoul and Washington.

“If the problem becomes more serious, South Korea could have tactical nuclear weapons deployed or secure its own nuclear weapons,” the president said, adding that “if things turn out this way, we will be able to acquire [nuclear weapons] quickly thanks to our science and technological capabilities.”

To this point, Yoon added that it is, however, important to choose methods that are realistically possible.

“Right now, discussions are taking place between South Korea and the US regarding the sharing of information, joint participation, joint planning, and joint execution.”

Besides this, Yoon also criticized the former Moon Jae-in administration's North Korea policy stance, saying, “We must completely distance ourselves from the kind of peace that relies on the goodwill of the other party, such as [talk of] an end of war declaration, and [instead] must be fully prepared.”

He asked those present to adequately change their way of thinking in order for “effective war preparation exercises” to be conducted “systematically and effectively.”

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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