[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] 'North Korea is the Enemy' After 6 Years

Defense White Paper: North Korea Violated Military Agreements 15 Times Last Year
Provocations Including Ballistic Missile Launches Over 34 Days

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Our military has redefined North Korea as our enemy for the first time in six years. The ‘2022 Defense White Paper,’ the first published under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, explicitly states North Korea as an enemy, citing that North Korea violated the September 19 Military Agreement 15 times last year alone and conducted ballistic missile test launches over 34 days.

The Defense White Paper, published on the 16th, stated, "At the December 2022 plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, North Korea defined us as a ‘clear enemy,’ and since it has not abandoned its nuclear weapons and continues to pose military threats, the North Korean regime and the North Korean military, as the executing entities, are our enemies."

The expression of the main enemy in the Defense White Paper has changed with each administration. The term ‘main enemy’ first appeared in the Defense White Paper in 1995. It emerged following North Korean representative Park Young-soo’s ‘fire Seoul to the ground’ remark during the 8th working-level talks held in March 1994 at Panmunjom for inter-Korean special envoy exchanges. However, the 2004 Defense White Paper published during the Roh Moo-hyun administration removed the term ‘main enemy’ (主敵) and replaced it with ‘direct military threat.’

Subsequently, the 2006 Defense White Paper described the enemy as ‘the existing military threat from North Korea,’ and the 2008 Defense White Paper published during the Lee Myung-bak administration referred to it as ‘North Korea’s direct and serious threat.’ After the Cheonan ship sinking incident in March 2010, hardline stances against North Korea intensified, and there was discussion about formalizing the concept of ‘main enemy.’ However, due to concerns over controversy, from the 2010 Defense White Paper through the 2016 edition, the North Korean regime and military were explicitly identified as our enemies.

Alongside this, the 2020 Defense White Paper defined the concept of ‘enemy’ (敵) as "forces that threaten and infringe upon the sovereignty, territory, people, and property of the Republic of Korea are considered our enemies." This maintained the expression used in the 2018 Defense White Paper. However, the first Defense White Paper under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration revived the phrase ‘the North Korean regime or North Korean military are our enemies.’

The evaluation of the September 19 Military Agreement also differentiated from the previous administration. Two years ago, the Defense White Paper assessed that North Korea "generally complies with the September 19 Military Agreement, including measures to prevent accidental clashes in border land and sea areas." However, the current Defense White Paper records that while North Korea’s major violations were twice until 2020, last year alone it violated the agreement a staggering 15 times, pointing out that "North Korea repeatedly violates the mutual cessation of hostile acts under the September 19 Military Agreement, including artillery firing within the maritime buffer zone, missile launches south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), and drone intrusions." Notably, the appendix separately lists ‘Major Violations of the September 19 Military Agreement by North Korea,’ highlighting the reality of repeated violations.

This Defense White Paper also specifically details North Korea’s ballistic missile launch status through charts. According to the charts, from January 5 to December 31 last year, ballistic missiles were launched on 34 days, with at least one launch per day. On November 2, for the first time since the division, a missile landed in the maritime buffer zone south of the NLL.

The Ministry of National Defense plans to publish the Defense White Paper, consisting of seven main chapters, in English and multilingual summaries (English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian) within the first half of this year to secure international trust and support for defense policy.