Defense Ministry touts 'people's military' vision as KF-21 milestone, OPCON transfer loom large

In its first year under the Lee Jae Myung administration, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense has pursued a "people's military" agenda aimed at preventing a recurrence of the Dec. 3 illegal martial law declaration, while also notching advances in cutting-edge military capability — most notably the start of mass production of the country's first domestically developed fighter jet, the KF-21. Still, the smooth transfer of wartime operational control and the restructuring of the Defense Security Command remain unfinished business.

Over the past year, the Defense Ministry said it worked to deliver results across five priority areas: building a people's military, developing elite combat power, strengthening the South Korea-US alliance, advancing defense reform, and improving service conditions for troops.

At the top of the agenda was cementing the military's political neutrality and establishing a democratic institutional control framework to build public trust in the armed forces.

The ministry appointed a civilian defense minister for the first time in 64 years — since 1961 — and expanded the placement of career civil servants in key posts to reinforce civilian oversight. It also completed revisions to the Martial Law Act to strengthen the National Assembly's check on executive power following the Dec. 3 illegal martial law declaration, and made constitutional-values education a regular fixture for all service members.

In addition, the ministry pushed to build elite, technology-driven combat power in response to a rapidly shifting security environment and a shrinking pool of military-age personnel. To bolster an independent deterrent against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, it allocated 8.8 trillion won (approximately $5.76 billion) to the "Korean three-axis system" — a 21.3 percent increase over 2025. Under that budget, the ministry successfully rolled out the first mass-production KF-21 fighter and secured five military reconnaissance satellites, strengthening surveillance coverage across all of North Korea and enhancing precision-strike capability.

The ministry also established a new Defense AI Planning Bureau to accelerate the training of 500,000 drone operators and the shift to an AI-based manned-unmanned combined combat system, pressing ahead with its transformation into a smart, future-ready force.

Service conditions received a significant overhaul as well, aimed at boosting troop morale. To address a declining application rate among junior officers, the ministry raised base pay by 6.6 percent this year, introduced a new long-term service savings plan, and increased duty-day allowances to 30,000 won on weekdays and 100,000 won on holidays — on par with general civil servants — to deliver tangible financial improvements in the field.

Controversy continues to surround key defense reform issues, including the transfer of wartime operational control amid friction in the South Korea-US alliance and the restructuring of the Defense Security Command.

The South Korean government has stressed its desire for an early transfer of wartime operational control, but the United States has maintained that South Korea's acquisition of core military capabilities and its ability to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats must be comprehensively assessed first. Washington is said to hold the position that "political convenience should not outpace conditions." Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek also drew controversy at the Shangri-La Dialogue when he said the two countries had agreed that South Korea had met 94 percent of the 2020 conditions for the transfer — remarks that triggered accusations of leaking classified military information.

The Defense Ministry is also expected to finalize and announce as early as next week a plan for the "constructive dissolution" of the Defense Security Command. The move is seen as a watershed moment in defense reform, dismantling the concentrated structure of military intelligence and investigative authority that came under scrutiny after the emergency martial law crisis and reinforcing civilian control.

The ministry's push to consolidate the three service academies is also drawing attention. The leading proposal would have first- and second-year cadets attend a unified academy at Jawundae in South Chungcheong Province, with third- and fourth-year students dispersed among the Korea Military Academy, the Korea Naval Academy and the Korea Air Force Academy. Veterans' groups and others have voiced opposition, raising the prospect of a difficult road ahead at public hearings.

A string of recent military accidents has also drawn scrutiny. Last month, a man in his 20s collapsed and died during a reserve forces training exercise in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. President Lee Jae Myung said at a Cabinet meeting that "training practices and methods that fail to account for soldiers' physical condition or on-site circumstances need to be improved," and called for authorities to "thoroughly and swiftly establish the facts and disclose them to the public with full transparency." On Friday, a non-commissioned officer died after sustaining injuries during training aboard a naval vessel operating in waters near Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea. The Navy is conducting a joint investigation with civilian police and military investigators to determine the exact cause of death.