Kang Shin-cheol "We are coordinating the date for the ROK-U.S. defense ministers' meeting next month... There is no problem between the military" (comprehensive)

Minister of National Defense Kang Shin-cheol said on the 11th, "We are coordinating the meeting date," regarding the meeting between the ROK and U.S. defense ministers scheduled to be held next month ahead of the ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), which has been postponed to early next year.

Minister Kang responded to a related question from People Power Party lawmaker Kang Dae-sik at the plenary session of the National Assembly's Budget and Accounts Special Committee on this day by saying, "The meeting itself is confirmed."

When asked, "At whose request the SCM scheduled to be held this year was postponed to next year," he said, "It was adjusted because of the schedules of the ministers of both countries. If there had been any problem, the ROK-US ministerial meeting in December would not have taken place."

In addition, in response to criticism that there would be changes in ROK-US security issues such as the transfer of wartime operational control and nuclear-powered submarines as the Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the US midterm elections, he drew a line by saying, "President Trump's position is to continue to strongly pursue what has been done previously, and the Democratic Party has traditionally shown a tendency to respect the ROK-US alliance, so there is no problem."

He then emphasized, “The ROK-US alliance began as a military alliance based on a blood alliance,” and added, “There are no problems at all between the military authorities.”

Regarding the restrictions on information sharing between South Korea and the United States against North Korea, he emphasized, "There is very little impact on the military sector. There is almost no abnormality in information sharing in the military sector."

Regarding the gap in military power between North and South Korea, he explained, "I think we are still overwhelming in terms of conventional weapons, but in terms of science and technology, North Korea is also catching up."

He said, “Since drones and other advanced technologies have been introduced since the Russia-Ukraine war, we believe that they may pose a threat in the future and are reflecting a budget of about 80 billion won in the anti-drone integrated system.”

Regarding the controversy that last month, a unit under the Army's Special Operations Command taught soldiers to walk like fashion models, and in April of this year, an Air Force frontline unit held a drinking dinner with a military band, he said, "We are looking at it seriously and taking action. The appearance of one unit clearly does not reflect the appearance of the entire military. We will make sure that there are no problems with the readiness posture."

In response to a question from People Power Party Rep. Lee Jong-wook about the decision to partially revise the plan to integrate the Army, Navy, and Air Force military academies, Minister Kang said, "The fact that we will revise the basic plan is not because of opposing public opinion, nor is it a retreat, nor is it a compromise."

He said, “What is clear is nurturing excellent talents who will lead the future war, and we are only looking at that one thing.” He added, “I sincerely ask you not to lead this into a political fight, opposing for the sake of opposing, agreeing for the sake of being in favor.”

In response to Rep. Lee's question about whether the detailed plan for the amendment will be announced at the end of this month, he explained, "It's not something we're doing just at the right time. We're listening to opinions."