[The Editors' Verdict] Lessons from the Fall of Afghanistan

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, fell to the armed Taliban forces on the 15th. This occurred just four months after the United States announced its withdrawal policy.

As the U.S. military withdrawal began, Kabul was captured, leading to a superficial view that the withdrawal was the cause. There were also concerns that the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea might withdraw similarly to Afghanistan.

The U.S. White House stated that "South Korea is different from Afghanistan," which calmed fears of a "second Afghanistan."

The diagnosis that the U.S. military withdrawal caused the fall of Kabul is incorrect. The fundamental cause is the lack of self-reliance. The collapse of Afghanistan was a predictable sequence due to a corrupt and incompetent president and government, and an army that existed only on paper.

Of course, South Korea is no exception. The moment self-reliance disappears, it could face collapse under North Korea's totalitarian regime.

The core of security strategy is self-reliance and alliances. Self-reliance means "the ability to repel attacks from enemy countries," and alliances are "promises to jointly respond to external enemies by supplementing our insufficient self-reliance capabilities."

It is natural that self-reliance is more important than alliances. The key is to equip autonomous security capabilities by combining self-reliance abilities and (when necessary) alliance capabilities.

Self-reliance includes not only physical capabilities but also mental strength. Physical capability means maintaining autonomous security by expanding modern equipment, while mental capability is enhanced by the leader's will for self-reliance, the united strength of the people, and the spirit of military personnel. No matter how strong physical self-reliance is, without mental self-reliance, full capability cannot be demonstrated.

It is especially important to recognize that self-reliance also grants the ability to form alliances. History has proven that without self-reliance, there are no alliances.

Attention should be paid to the remarks on self-reliance by U.S. President Roosevelt and Secretary of State John Hay during the Russo-Japanese War: "We cannot interfere with Japan for the sake of Koreans. Koreans did not even throw a punch for themselves. It is impossible to think there is a country that would intervene for a people who could not do for themselves, even if it does not benefit their own country." Without self-reliance, there is no nation or people.

The Afghanistan situation raises doubts about the sentimental nationalism and North Korean-style pacifism illusions of the Moon Jae-in administration.

They were deceived by the sweet propaganda of North Korean totalitarians, ignoring nuclear risks and instead weakening self-reliance capabilities. The 2018 inter-Korean military agreement weakened the military's combat power and was a bad promise that reduced our physical self-reliance.

Moreover, denying the founding of the Republic of Korea, praising Kim Won-bong?the vanguard of the June 25 North Korean invasion war?as the root of the national army, and awarding the Order of Merit for National Foundation to communist Hong Beom-do are acts of identity damage.

On the other hand, the ruling party’s enactment of the "Anti-North Korean Leaflet Act," called a directive law from North Korea’s Kim Yo-jong, responding to North Korea, and their unrestrained actions in response to Kim Yo-jong’s demand to halt South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, while remaining silent even as citizens’ lives are taken and property destroyed, are anti-Republic of Korea acts.

Such bad promises, identity damage, and turning a blind eye to North Korea’s atrocities are acts that undermine our mental self-reliance.

The fall of Afghanistan is likely a signal for the reorganization of the international political order and has reminded us of the importance of self-reliance and alliances. We must restore damaged self-reliance and alliances to ensure the smooth sailing of the Republic of Korea. We look forward to a change in awareness from the government and ruling party.

Cho Young-gi, Chairman of the Hansun Foundation Advanced Unification Research Association