Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -When South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived this week at Seoul’s largest weapons expo ever https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/arriving-fighter-jet-skoreas-moon-urges-defence-industry-growth-2021-10-20 in the back seat of a fighter jet, he didn’t present the image of a leader bent on making peace with North Korea.

Under Moon, South Korea has not only continued many of the military programmes approved under his conservative predecessors, but pushed already large defence budgets to new highs, negotiated an end to U.S. restrictions on its missile programme, and announced plans for the nation’s first aircraft carrier, among a plethora of other advanced weapons https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/skorea-successfully-tests-submarine-launched-ballistic-missile-blue-house-2021-09-15.

Whatever the outcome of Moon’s last-ditch efforts to a achieve a breakthrough with North Korea https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-north-south-korea-talks-over-summit-reopening-liaison-office-sources-2021-07-28 before he leaves office in May, that military buildup appears a lasting legacy.

This seems to be at odds with President Obama’s liberal drive for inter-Korean Peace. Pyongyang has also cited Seoul’s arms buildup in Washington as proof of its hostile duplicity.

Officials and analysts believe that Moon had one of the main motives for his actions – the desire to increase South Korea’s autonomy and win control over allied forces in case of war – but this was not the only motivation.

One diplomatic source from Seoul stated that F-35 fighter planes were unveiled by the government in 2019, after it had purchased them from the U.S. “I was puzzled why they did this, even though they wanted to promote inter-Korean interaction, knowing the North hates the idea so much.” “But, I realized later that Moon’s idea of self-reliant defense is what they do.

The U.S. military is still in control of hundreds of thousands South Korean soldiers and nearly 28,500 American troops.

Moon made obtaining control of the joint forces a major goal, but a delayed review https://www.reuters.com/article/southkorea-usa-military-idINKBN2AZ020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues has made it impossible in what is left of his term.

Moon seems to be determined to lay the foundation for future transfers through military buildup regardless of who succeeds him, a source claimed, speaking anonymously due to diplomatic sensitivey.

Officials claim that his desire to increase military power is influenced also by factors such as genuine concerns about North Korea’s threats growing.

It also drove new business for South Korea’s military contractors. This helped Moon avoid criticism from conservatives that his efforts to reach out to North Korea could endanger both the South and U.S. allies.

“STRENGTH FOR PEACE”

Moon believes that having a strong military will help make peace with North Korea.

According to the sensitive issue, the official stated that Moon’s move suggests South Korea is willing to be the first in the establishment of peace on the Peninsula on its own and not through allied forces.

The source said that while we support strength-based peace, the government is not abandoning cross-border ties. They will work to bring North Korea back to the table until the end and they have brought up the question of an ending to war.

Moon called for declaring a formal end to the war https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korean-leader-repeats-call-declaration-end-korean-war-2021-09-21 in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly last month, saying it would help reopen stalled talks aimed at denuclearising North Korea in return for U.S. sanctions relief.

Recent years have seen the North test a number of missiles with short ranges, which analysts believe are meant to defy South Korea’s defenses. It has matched several moves by Seoul, including holding a duelling arms show https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-threatens-upstage-skorea-defence-expo-with-duelling-military-show-2021-10-14 and launching a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-says-it-conducted-successful-missile-test-submarine-kcna-2021-10-19 just weeks after South Korea had conducted its own SLBM test https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nkorea-fired-unidentified-projectile-yonhap-citing-skorea-military-2021-09-15.

Pyongyang has repeatedly complained about South Korea’s weapons acquisitions and joint drills with the Americans, accusing Seoul of applying double standards https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-says-suggestion-declare-end-korean-war-is-premature-kcna-2021-09-23 over military development while destabilising the peninsula with its own buildup.

Seoul officials confirmed that Pyongyang is also open to ignoring or downplaying the South’s military moves, but they are not always willing to do so.

According to the source, “There wasn’t a lot of backlash. But South Korean weapons weren’t welcome in the North. I believe it was their strategy to pretend that they were a normal state to legitimize their own weapon development.” But the arms race is heading in dangerous directions, without any arms control mechanisms nor confidence-building measures between either side.