"North Korean Army is Our Enemy"... Included Again in Yoon Administration's First Defense White Paper

The term 'Jujeok' is unlikely to be used

'North Korea is the enemy' expression omitted in the 2020 Defense White Paper
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The first defense white paper under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration will revive expressions that define the North Korean regime and the North Korean military as 'enemies.'

According to multiple government sources on the 6th, the draft of the '2022 Defense White Paper,' to be published in January next year, includes the phrase 'The North Korean regime and the North Korean military are our enemies.' A government source explained, "As presented in the national agenda, expressions explicitly defining the North Korean regime and the North Korean military as enemies have been included in the draft of the defense white paper."

Previously, the Presidential Transition Committee stated in the '110 National Tasks' announced on May 3rd, "We will consider including in the defense white paper and other documents a clear statement that the North Korean regime and the North Korean military are our enemies." Subsequently, the military distributed training materials for soldiers that included the content "The North Korean military and the North Korean regime are our enemies."

The concept of the main enemy was first explicitly stated in the 1995 defense white paper, following the North Korean representative's "Seoul will be a sea of fire" remark during the 1994 inter-Korean special envoy exchange working-level talks.

Under the Moon Jae-in administration, expressions defining North Korea as an enemy disappeared and were replaced with phrases such as "We consider forces that threaten and infringe upon our sovereignty, territory, people, and property as our enemies."

If the draft of this defense white paper is maintained, it will mark the revival of expressions defining the North Korean regime as an 'enemy' for the first time in six years since 2016.

However, the phrase "North Korea is the main enemy" is not expected to be used.