Allegations of Fabrication in the Death of a Unit Member During Battalion Commander Tenure Are "Almost Fiction"
Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, stated on the 15th that he "personally believes it is desirable for the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement to be definitely abolished."
Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, is answering reporters' questions as he arrives at the hearing preparation office in the Army Hall on the 15th. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@
On the morning of the same day, Shin met with reporters as he arrived for his first day at the nominee's office set up in the Army Hall within the Ministry of National Defense compound in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. After making the statement, he added that the decision to abolish the September 19 Military Agreement "cannot be handled solely by the Ministry of National Defense." He said, "The military has proposed several supplementary measures regarding the military vulnerabilities of the September 19 Agreement, but if there are additional measures to be supplemented, we will do so."
Shin has advocated for the abolition of the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement, signed during the Moon Jae-in administration in 2018, citing reasons such as the serious impairment of surveillance capabilities along the North Korean front line. He did not apologize for his past remarks at conservative rallies where he defended the December 12 military coup and the May 16 military coup, and harshly criticized former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in with near-vulgar expressions.
When reporters repeatedly asked if he intended to apologize, Shin responded repeatedly, "I will state my position at the confirmation hearing." In 2019, at a rally led by Jeon Gwang-hoon, a far-right pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, he said, "It is only a matter of time before we cut off Moon Jae-in's head." Regarding his remarks supporting the coup, he explained again, "My words were somewhat edited out of context, causing misunderstandings," and added, "I fully accept the Supreme Court's final ruling and the government's historical evaluation." He expressed the same stance at the National Assembly the day before.
In a 2019 YouTube broadcast, Shin said about the December 12 coup by the new military under Chun Doo-hwan, "I think it was an effort to save the country during the gap after President Park Chung-hee passed away," which drew criticism for being inappropriate. When asked whether he plans to remove the bust of General Hong Beom-do installed in front of the Ministry of National Defense building and rename the Navy submarine 'Hong Beom-do,' he said, "If I take office, I will listen to various opinions, thoroughly review them, and then inform the public of the direction." Regarding allegations that he manipulated the cause of death of a unit member while serving as a company commander in October 1985, he strongly denied, saying, "It's almost a novel."
He said, "The investigation by the Military Death Accident Investigation Committee was too far from the facts and was one-sided based on distorted memories," and added, "I will reveal the details through legal battles." Shin expressed concern about the military closeness between North Korea and Russia, saying, "If North Korea and Russia become militarily close, it will have a considerable impact on North Korea's development of advanced weapons." He said, "We will analyze the related trends in detail and supplement military power enhancement plans that can leapfrog and overwhelm North Korea accordingly," adding, "There are strategic ways to improve the capabilities of the South Korean military, but since provocations can be deterred through close military cooperation with allies and friendly countries, we will prepare supplementary measures from multiple perspectives."
He continued, "I feel a heavy responsibility as I have been nominated as the Minister of National Defense at a time when the security situation is more severe than ever," and said, "If I become minister, I will carefully consider the defense-related directives of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and strive to build an advanced strong military." Furthermore, he emphasized, "In particular, I will ensure that soldiers are armed with a proper sense of national identity, an enemy perspective, and military spirit to create soldiers who are truly soldiers and a military that always wins when fighting the enemy."
The Ministry of National Defense has formed a task force (TF) for the confirmation hearing and has begun full-scale preparations. Shin, a native of Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, entered the military as the 37th class of the Korea Military Academy. He retired as a lieutenant general during the Park Geun-hye administration and entered politics as the 8th proportional representative candidate of the Future Korea Party in the 21st general election. This is the first time since the first Minister Cheon Yong-taek of the Kim Dae-jung administration in 1998 that an incumbent member of the National Assembly has been nominated as Minister of National Defense.
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