Text Fwd: [Exclusive] Lee directs W3 tril. rise in arms buying

Korea Times
[Exclusive] Lee directs W3 tril. rise in arms buying
: Seoul seeking to counter NK’s asymmetrical warfare

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter
05-16-2010 17:20

President Lee Myung-bak has directed an increase in expenditure for weapons systems to cope with North Korea's asymmetrical and irregular warfare, a government source said Sunday.

Lee called for spending 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) on arms improvement programs, the source said. The President made the decision during the first meeting of a newly established presidential task force for revamping national security and defense plans last Thursday, he said.

"There is a certain need for changes in defense equipment and weapons systems as well as military operations," Lee told the 15-member panel led by Lee Sang-woo, a former professor who now chairs the Defense Reform Committee.

Lee urged the panel to revise the Defense Reform 2020 initiative after reassessing the existing security situation, including increasing threats posed by North Korea's asymmetrical and guerilla tactics.

"Upon the President's direction, defense authorities are expected to review current arms acquisition plans and readjust their priorities," the source told The Korea Times. "The focus will be on how to thwart the North's asymmetrical and irregular operations."

Irregular and asymmetric warfare uses more special forces to conduct operations than regular forces, as well as the unconventional use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons systems.

A Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said President Lee hadn't directed detailed plans on the arms programs, adding the military will decide upon these.

"For example, buying helicopters for maritime and air-to-ground operations will gain speed in order to help prevent the infiltration of North Korean special forces into the South, or to drop our commandos into enemy areas," the source noted.

Other weapons to be affected by a potential increase in defense expenditure would include upgrades of warships' sonar, deployment of a sound surveillance systems (SOSUS) for islands near the sea border, development of three-dimensional anti-air radar and an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) bomb, and the acquisition of bunker-busting bombs, he said.

"On the other hand, arms programs aimed at deterring North Korea's conventional threats could be put on the back burner for the time being," he added, apparently referring to the production of the K2 Black Panther main battle tank and K21 infantry fighting vehicle.