Commanders of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea,

Last week, we choked back bitter tears as we bid a final farewell to our sailors of the sunken corvette Cheonan.

Now it is time for us to overcome this profound sorrow and start all over again. Learning a lesson from this incident, we need to make ourselves stronger. To this end, I convened this meeting with you today.

The sinking of the Cheonan must have prompted deep reflection by you all. You must have felt indescribable pain and a heavy sense of responsibility. As Commander-in-Chief, I, too, share the pain and responsibility you are now feeling. 

What is clear as of now is the fact that the sinking of the Cheonan was not simply an accident. As soon as I received the first report, I knew by intuition that it would escalate into a grave international issue involving inter-Korean relations. I instructed the Government to determine the cause of the sinking with international cooperation. Comprising top specialists, the international joint investigation team will be able to shed light on the cause before long. As soon as the cause is identified, the Korean Government will announce the findings to all countries of the world. After that, I will take clear and stern measures to hold anyone responsible accountable.

Even before the cause is unveiled, however, there is an important task we have to embark on immediately. That is that we need to check our security readiness on all fronts.

I assume that you have already taken time for self-examination, contemplating what went wrong and what should be corrected. It is always possible for things to go wrong, but we must not allow it to happen again. Importantly, the military should not tolerate even a fraction of error because it is responsible for safeguarding the lives of the people.

Commanders of the Armed Forces,

The incident served as an opportunity for us to reaffirm one fact once again: the blessing of peace the Republic of Korea is enjoying is still on tenuous ground. A menace that can undermine prosperity and upset stability in the Republic can come upon us in an unimaginable fashion. Freedom and peace cannot be obtained for free. Only when we are determined to risk our lives and are prepared will we be able to protect freedom and maintain peace. 

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea are strong. Our military can fight to win at any time. Nonetheless, our defense posture and security awareness have become slack. Developments in the security environment surrounding the nation have blurred the dangers to our national security, which might have caused some confusion within the armed forces. As a matter of fact, most Koreans go about their everyday lives without even realizing that the North has long-range artillery aimed at the South just 70 km or about 43 miles away. The sinking of the Cheonan serves as a clear reminder of that reality.

Mighty armed forces are better defined by strong mental fortitude than by strong weaponry. Now is high time for us to reflect on ourselves to see if we just went through the motions or were too idealistic rather than realistic in dealing with national defense.

Needless to say, our armed forces have to match international standards. At the same time, the South has to enhance its military strength by taking into consideration our unique situation in which the two Koreas are divided under hostile circumstances. In particular, it is incumbent on us to newly take stock of the nation’s preparedness against asymmetric warfare, including special warfare.

With resolute determination, the military has to push ahead with reforms in a wide range of areas, including the emergency response preparedness, reporting and command system, intelligence capability and discipline. 

The armed forces are a huge community, consisting of the army, the navy and the air force. For the speedy and efficient operation of such an organization, it is urgently needed to tackle the adverse consequences caused by its top-down, bureaucratic nature. It is necessary for the armed forces to carry out joint operations on a real-time basis in close collaboration, thereby making sure that the strength of each branch of the military is exerted efficiently in a consolidated manner. Also necessary is to come up with ways to further enhance joint capabilities to create synergy and enhance the fighting power to the utmost.

All these processes, if realized one by one, will maximize military strength.

Commanding officers,

No matter what anyone says, I have strong confidence in our armed forces. As the last bastion of national security, the military has to be armed with confidence and a sense of duty, fulfilling their duties without fail. One unshakable policy of my Administration is to ensure the honor of those serving in uniform.

The military depends on morale. Any acts belittling the military without foundation or instigating distrust and division within or without will never ever be tolerated. The armed forces have to remain fully committed to safeguarding the nation. To this end, the Government will make efforts to improve the welfare of the men and women in uniform. For its part, the armed forces have to enhance transparency and efficiency in the administration of military affairs to raise the public confidence.  

We are a great nation, which has turned every crisis into an opportunity for a leap forward. This great people established the powerful Republic of Korea. No threats or provocations can shake our fundamental strength.

The Republic is recovering the fastest in the world from the global economic crisis, causing other nations to envy us. In the same manner, the nation needs to overcome the tragedy of the Cheonan and beef up our security stance so that no one will dare challenge us.

A strong Korea comes from a strong security stance, and a strong economy comes from strong security as well.

In order to strengthen national security, I will immediately create an organization under the President to examine national security readiness. For a certain period of time, the organization will be responsible for reviewing national security readiness in its totality and preparing appropriate measures. Among other things, the organization will examine in detail matters concerning the overall national security capabilities, crisis management system and defense reform.

At the same time, in an effort to solidify national security functions, the Office of the President will install a new special national security advisor while transforming the current crisis situation room into a crisis management center.

Commanders of the Armed Forces,

Today, everything is changing. The speed of change is astounding.
The armed forces cannot be an exception. Operations have to change. Weapons have to change. Military organizations have to change. Military culture has to change.

In this age of change, success in anything is determined by how creatively we will respond to change. An organization that is insensitive to change and slow to innovate will not survive.

The joint civilian-military salvage operation that was conducted during the raising of the Cheonan was very exemplary. We have to learn a lesson from this example. The military needs to transcend its exclusivism. It needs to actively seek and utilize superior civilian resources and work with them.

I urge the armed forces to put their compete trust in the nation and the Government and proactively work to achieve a creative transformation. Only then will public trust in the armed forces be deepened.

I also urge you to use this commanders meeting as an opportunity to give new birth to our armed forces. Let us reassure the people watching this meeting. Let us make it so that the parents will be willing to send their children to the armed forces with pride.

In the future, historians will record how the nation’s armed forces were transformed because of the incident involving the Cheonan. Let this meeting be a significant occasion to share our historic sense of responsibility. Let this gathering open a new chapter in the annals of the Republic’s armed forces.

Thank you very much.