Free Republic

South Korea's military strategy against North Korea will shift from thwarting a full-scale, conventional attack to dealing with limited, unconventional acts of aggression, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday. "We admit that there are deficiencies in our ability to deal with infiltrations and unconventional tactics and we need to refocus the direction of our military build-up strategy," Kim said in a meeting between Lee and top military commanders. South Korea's military build-up so far had primarily focused on dealing with a full-blown war with North Korea, while an infiltration by North Korean commandos or other unconventional...

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Tuesday a "surprise attack" sank one of South Korea's naval ships in March and that the country will remember the incident as a "day of shame" for its military. Kim made the remark during a report to President Lee Myung-bak at a meeting of top military commanders, but stopped short of directly mentioning North Korea, though the communist nation has been widely believed to be responsible. "Our naval ship came under a surprise attack on March 26 while on a patrol mission. We bitterly regret that it revealed a hole in the defense posture and...

President Lee Myung-bak will chair a meeting of top military commanders next week, his spokesman said Sunday, a reflection of how seriously he regards last month's deadly sinking of a naval ship in waters near North Korea. Lee will preside over the military commanders' meeting on Tuesday, marking the first time in history for a South Korean president to chair such a meeting, presidential spokesman Park Sun-kyoo said. The 1,200-ton patrol ship Cheonan sank in waters near the tense western sea border with North Korea on March 26, revealing problems with the way the military responded to the deadly disaster...