[Yang Nakgyu's Defense Club] The Military Removing Barbed Wire While Bases Are Breached

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] Following the Jeju Naval Base, it has been revealed that the security networks of the Capital Defense Command and the Jinhae Naval Base were repeatedly breached by civilians, causing public outrage. Amid this, the military plans to dismantle the coastal and river boundary fences nationwide, but concerns are growing that the military units' readiness for security will become even more lax.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 17th, a man identified as A (57) intruded into an anti-aircraft position at the company level under the Capital Defense Command (SuBangSa), which protects the capital Seoul. CCTV footage shows that on the 16th at 11:46 a.m., A dug under the fence of the position and entered the base. He then wandered around the anti-aircraft position for about an hour. The unit, which discovered this fact belatedly, secured B's custody and handed him over to the police.

In January, it was also revealed that a man in his 70s, B, illegally entered the Jinhae Naval Base in Gyeongnam and wandered around for about an hour and a half. At that time, three military police officers were on duty at the guard post, but A was not stopped at all. B was discovered after wandering inside the base for about an hour and a half. It was revealed that the Jinhae base did not report civilian access to the base to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of National Defense. There are also suspicions that the Navy deliberately concealed the unauthorized civilian intrusion.

As even units stationed with boundary fences and sentries are being breached one after another, anxiety is growing over the Ministry of National Defense's plan to dismantle coastal and river boundary fences, which is being promoted as part of Defense Reform 2.0 by the end of this year. It means that a 'second maritime knock defection,' like the North Korean fishing boat that entered Samcheok Port in Gangwon without our military's restraint in June last year, could happen at any time.

The Ministry of National Defense has decided to dismantle half of the coastal and river boundary fences nationwide by the end of this year. As of August 2018, the total length of boundary fences nationwide was about 300 km. The Joint Chiefs of Staff judged that removing 170 km, which accounts for 57%, would not affect operations. At that time, the military explained, "Most of the dismantling sections are areas where surveillance equipment is being reinforced, and through combat experiments installing actual surveillance equipment on-site, blind spots are prevented." The military plans to establish surveillance systems over about 140 km this year.

However, despite the surveillance system, blind spots have occurred. An investigation into the civilian intrusion incident at Jeju Naval Base on the 7th revealed that although human movement was detected, the 'motion recognition' function that triggers an alarm did not operate. Also, although the CCTV was replaced with a new model in December last year due to performance degradation, it was not compatible with the existing program. This is why there are criticisms that the military's explanation?that reinforcing surveillance equipment makes dismantling coastal and river boundary fences unproblematic?is inconsistent.