South Korea Says It’s Speeding Up Arms Buildup to Counter the North
2017-09-29 09:13:31 source：The New York Times
September 28, 2017
The president of South Korea vowed on Thursday to accelerate efforts to strengthen its pre-emptive strike, missile defense and retaliatory capabilities against North Korea, and he renewed his call for the armed forces to become more independent from the United States.
In a speech to mark South Korea’s Armed Forces Day, the president, Moon Jae-in, said he would push for the South to move more quickly to retake wartime operational control of its military from its American ally. Since the Korean War in the early 1950s, the terms of the countries’ alliance have called for an American general to command the South’s 650,000-member military should war break out.
Mr. Moon and other liberals have campaigned for South Korea to play a greater role in the alliance, and they have long called for the country to resume responsibility for wartime command as soon as it can feasibly do so. But the idea has gotten more public support as remarks by President Trump have led many South Koreans to doubt his commitment to defend their country.
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