[Defense Column] The Security That K-Defense Must Protect

The weather changes dramatically from day to day. Even when there is no monsoon front in the sky, sudden downpours occur. In just one day, daytime temperatures trapped in a 'double heat dome' can rise to 38 degrees Celsius. This is due to global warming. Global warming threatens everything from climate security to food security. Ironically, it is military activities that exacerbate these security crises. Humanity still fears the threat from neighboring countries more than the climate crisis itself. The weapons created out of this fear end up accelerating other security crises.

Weapons such as military aircraft, warships, and combat vehicles use fossil fuels. Their fuel efficiency is extremely poor. The latest U.S. stealth fighter jet, the F-35, has a fuel efficiency of just over 0.2 kilometers per liter. This is only about 2% of the fuel efficiency of a typical passenger car. Carbon dioxide emissions are also high. Every time it is deployed on a mission, it emits 27,800 kilograms of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to the amount emitted when 6,000 passenger cars travel 19.5 kilometers. At the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) held in Egypt in 2022, it was claimed that 33 million tons of carbon dioxide had been emitted after just one year of the war in Ukraine. It was also predicted that 49 million tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted during the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Military activities also threaten ecosystems. In the year the war in Ukraine began, more than 700 dolphins died and washed up on the shores of Odessa, a port city on Ukraine's Black Sea coast. Autopsies found no external injuries. Scientists pointed to Russian warships as the main cause. They argued that the low-frequency signals emitted by the sonar equipment on these warships caused the dolphins to lose their sense of direction, ultimately leading them to starve to death or crash into rocks or dangerous coastal areas. In 2000, when the U.S. Navy conducted military exercises in the Bahamas in the Caribbean, there was also a mass stranding of dolphins. Dolphins are not the only victims. It has also been claimed that the war in Ukraine threatens 600 species of animals and 750 species of plants.

At one time, countries around the world took action to prevent other threats caused by military activities. There was a period when carbon dioxide emissions were tallied. The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), provided the basis for this. Later, under the Paris Agreement in 2015, reporting of military sector emissions was changed from a 'requirement' to a 'voluntary option' for each country. This created a loophole. Countries with high military spending began to avoid reporting their emissions.

South Korea's military is no exception. According to data released in 2021 by the Military Emissions Monitoring Network (militaryemissions.org), the South Korean military emitted approximately 3.88 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2020. This is more than the total emissions of the entire South Korean public sector, which stood at 3.7 million tons. There are no countermeasures in place. The climate research organization NewClimate Institute pointed out that South Korea, which ranks among the top 20 countries in cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from 1975 to 2021, has not announced any concrete position or support scale for 'loss and damage.' The scale of official development assistance (ODA) is also less than half the average of OECD member countries.

The development and export of advanced weapons are important for national security and the economy. However, before boasting about defense industry exports, which are considered taboo in other countries, there are more urgent tasks to address. The nation must devote its full efforts to developing low-carbon technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells and electric propulsion systems. In the future, there is a high likelihood that carbon emission data for materials and components will be required for defense exports. This will also help improve the country's image. Before being threatened by neighboring countries, South Korea should demonstrate its commitment to reducing threats from the planet itself. This is the true strength of 'K-Defense' that can be shown to the world.