South Korea National Security
Signal Fire Tower, Suwon Castle, sited with a view of the
royal villa. The tower offered an important means of
communication.
DURING SOUTH KOREA'S Fifth Republic (1981-87), the
modernization of the armed forces was one of the highest
priorities of Chun Doo Hwan's administration. As a result, when
Chun's term in office ended, he left behind one of the bestequipped military forces in Asia. Army units had been reorganized
and equipped with indigenously produced weapons. The improvement
of defense fortifications and supply systems along the southern
side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) ensured that ground forces
were better prepared to defend South Korea than at any time since
the end of the Korean War (1950-53). An automated air defense
system, jointly managed by the army and air force, reduced the
possibility that South Korea would be caught unprepared in the
event of a surprise attack. As a by-product of rapid
industrialization and coproduction agreements with United States
and West European firms, South Korean aircraft producers and
shipbuilders were able to supply most of the country's needs for
modern fighter aircraft, helicopters, coastal patrol vessels, and
other equipment required by the air force and navy.
A tenuous peace held throughout the 1980s on the Korean
Peninsula--tenuous because the government of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) in P'yongyang continued
to expand its armed forces and to deploy two-thirds of all
military units--army, navy, and air force--in a combat-ready
status close to the DMZ. Moreover, North Korean-directed
terrorist activity against South Korea threatened to provoke a
renewal of hostilities. In 1980 P'yongyang and Seoul each had
about 600,000 military personnel on active duty. From 1980 to
1985 the North Korean armed forces increased by 150,000 people,
whereas the South Korean armed forces expanded modestly by about
5,000 people. In 1990 North Korea's armed forces had 1.4 million
military personnel on active duty. South Korea's armed forces had
650,000 persons on active duty and another 1,240,000 persons in
the reserves.
Under Chun's leadership, Seoul cautiously promoted a peaceful
dialogue with North Korea and encouraged the expansion of northsouth contacts in the early 1980s; P'yongyang remained
uninterested in these overtures and on at least two occasions
perpetrated terrorist attacks that increased tension on the
Korean Peninsula. The primary purpose of South Korean peace
proposals in 1981 and 1982 was to realize a summit meeting
between Chun and North Korean president Kim Il Sung. South Korean
leaders hoped that the establishment of a government-to-
government dialogue would lead to agreements reducing the size of
the armed forces of both countries and establishing the framework
for a peace plan to replace the 1953 armistice.
In October 1983, a P'yongyang-directed terrorist attack
resulted in the cessation of the peace process. A bomb that
exploded in Rangoon, Burma, killed twenty-one people, including
seventeen high-ranking officials of the South Korean government
then visiting Burma. The bombing was planned and executed by
personnel drawn from North Korean army units. Chun's decision not
to retaliate with force set a precedent that won him praise from
abroad and sympathy for his unpopular regime at home. Seoul's
reliance on diplomatic and economic measures to counter terrorism
rather than a small-scale attack on a North Korean target, which
could be used as an excuse for beginning an all-out war,
effectively mobilized international public opinion to limit trade
and other contacts with North Korea.
Another terrorist attack occurred in September 1987 when two
North Korean saboteurs placed a bomb on a Seoul-bound Korean Air
Boeing 707 aircraft carrying ninety-five passengers and twenty
crew members. The plane exploded over the Andaman Sea (south of
Burma), killing all aboard. Chun, following the precedent set in
1983 after the Rangoon bombing, ruled out military retaliation
and asked the international community to condemn North Korea for
its continued belligerence.
South Korea also experienced an increase in politically
motivated domestic violence during the 1980s. For the first time,
a small, vocal segment of the population persistently challenged
former and current military leaders, including Chun, to stay out
of politics. The 1980 Kwangju rebellion was used by
disenfranchised politicians and disillusioned radical students as
a rallying cry. Moderates were encouraged to pressure Chun to
change the constitution and public security laws to guarantee
that soldiers, police, and the intelligence services would never
again be turned against the people. Seoul's claims that the
radical student organizations were fronts for North Korea
gradually lost credibility, particularly in 1985, when student
participation in the political process contributed to the high
proportion of votes cast for the New Korea Democratic Party in
that year's parliamentary elections. Public indignation
concerning increasingly brutal attacks on dissidents by police
became a major political issue in January 1987 when Pak Chongch 'ol, a Seoul National University student, was tortured and
subsequently died while in police custody. From March through
June 1987, combat police units of the Korean National Police
responsible for crowd control were constantly on the move as
antigovernment demonstrations, sometimes including tens of
thousands of ordinary citizens, became everyday occurrences in
Seoul, Pusan, Kwangju, and other cities.
After the inauguration of Roh Tae Woo as president in
February 1988, attention once again reverted to North Korea as
the foremost threat to security. Roh made good his promise to
ensure the safety of athletes and spectators from around the
world who came to Seoul for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Japan and
the United States provided direct security assistance during this
period, the former by closely monitoring the thousands of airline
flights and visitors passing through Tokyo and other Japanese
cities en route to the event, the latter by deploying additional
air, naval, and security units in and around South Korea before
and during the Olympics. Following the Olympics, Roh relaxed
restrictions on South Korean contacts with North Koreans, gave in
to increasing demands for social spending, and acknowledged
growing skepticism about the threat from P'yongyang, all of which
resulted in reducing the percentage of the budget spent on
defense. These policies were designed to encourage reciprocal
moves by North Korea and to reduce tension between the two
Koreas.
In 1989 Roh publicized plans to restructure the South Korean
armed forces to enhance their defensive capabilities. Seoul also
planned to acquire new types of technologically sophisticated
weapons to prepare the armed forces for warfare and defense in
the twenty-first century.
Data as of June 1990
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