Foreign Affairs and Defense Report to Yoon on Strengthening North Korea Denuclearization and Threat Response

New Year Work Plan Report... Economic Tasks Presented Aligned with 'Industrialization of All Ministries'
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Reports 'Economy-Centered Diplomacy', Ministry of National Defense Proposes Leap to 'Defense Industry Exporter'

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 11th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense reported to President Yoon Seok-yeol on a plan to achieve North Korea's complete denuclearization and build capabilities to respond to asymmetric threats. In line with President Yoon's order for 'industrialization across all ministries,' they also presented measures for economic-centered diplomacy and advancing as an arms export nation.

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon received a report on the 2023 work plan, centered on these contents, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense at the Blue House State Guest House. About 150 people attended the report, including Foreign Minister Park Jin, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop, key officials from the ministries, private experts, and policy stakeholders. In particular, various participants such as North Korean economy experts, field experts working at cybersecurity firms, economic security experts, industry experts well-versed in semiconductors, North Korean nuclear and missile experts, unmanned aerial vehicle experts, and defense industry officials gathered to hold an on-site focused discussion.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the 2023 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense briefing held at the Blue House State Guest House on the morning of the 11th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented the core policy tasks for 2023 under the theme of 'Revitalizing National Interest Diplomacy,' including ▲ the inaugural year for implementing the Indo-Pacific strategy ▲ principled approach to North Korea ▲ economic-centered diplomacy. Emphasizing the significance of the Indo-Pacific strategy announced last December, they set a goal to actively promote it this year and reported plans to strengthen cooperation with the international community for North Korea's complete denuclearization.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also unveiled a proactive diplomatic strategy to overcome complex crises such as global geopolitical competition, the global pandemic, and supply chain instability, stressing the expansion of overseas advancement in infrastructure construction, nuclear power, and defense sectors to achieve results in economic diplomacy.

The Ministry of National Defense reported under the theme of 'Realizing Peace through Strength' with plans to ▲ build overwhelming response capabilities against asymmetric threats such as North Korea's nuclear and missile threats ▲ lay the foundation to become one of the world's top four arms export countries. To overwhelmingly respond to asymmetric threats like North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities, they plan to pursue six tasks: ▲ expansion of independent Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities ▲ strengthening the Korean-style 3-axis system capabilities and posture ▲ enhancing North Korean unmanned aerial vehicle response capabilities ▲ accelerating the establishment of the Strategic Command ▲ dramatically improving the execution of U.S. extended deterrence ▲ strengthening combined ROK-U.S. exercises and training.

The Ministry of National Defense also devised an export strategy to revitalize the economy. To advance as one of the world's top four arms export countries, they plan to implement a systematic export strategy including ▲ strengthening whole-of-government support to effectively respond to purchasing countries' demands ▲ enhancing post-sales to promote additional purchases ▲ creating a challenging defense R&D environment, and reported plans to build sustainable defense cooperation relationships with countries such as Poland and the UAE.

During the discussion following the work report, topics corresponding to each ministry's report were addressed. Field experts also offered various highly practical policy opinions focusing on sustainable peace through responses to threats such as North Korean nuclear and missile issues and cyber threats, as well as proactive economic security fitting the era of convergence between economy and security.