[특집:안보전략환경 변화와 국방개혁 추진] ‘성공적인 국방개혁’의 관건 및 추진전략

• 발행기관: 한국전략문제연구소
• 저자명: 심경욱
• 간행물 정보: 『전략연구』통권 제35호, 58~78쪽, 전체 21쪽
• 주제분류: 사회과학 > 정치외교학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2005.11.30

영문 초록

A heated debate surrounding the contents of “Defense Reform 2020” has been waging since the plan’s announcement in September of this year. Opinions regarding the plan differ widely: some critique it for being overly radical, while others see it as an insufficiently reformative pastiche of previous reform plans. This diversity of views stems from the fact that the plan is the product of rational compromises struck in the process of proposing the changes, identifying the threats to national security, and setting the scope of the reform. In order for “Defense Reform 2020” to succeed, the Army, Navy, and Air Force must participate in its implementation with a sense of ownership and self-motivation. Civilian society must also give unstinted support for this much-needed endeavor at reform, on the recognition that the military and its constituents are among the neglected victims produced by the process of social progress and democratization that took priority under the civilian government. In addition, the reform must be “open,” so that the public can see the massive investments bear fruit in the form of increased fighting power. If “Defense Reform 2020” proceeds smoothly through each phase, the R.O.K. armed forces will move several steps closer to realizing the dream of becoming an elite military equipped with greater agility and state-of-the-art weapons systems. In such a case, this reform will not only boost the intangible combat power of the armed forces through the streamlining of its personnel but also demonstrate respect for human dignity within the military. “Defense Reform 2020”must be founded on the vision that human beings still constitute the backbone of the national defense system even in the age of intelligence and information. “Defense Reform 2020” should also provide an opportunity for the military to recover the trust of civilian society, and for it to be reborn as a new armed forces divorced from the errors of the past. The military can no longer be wedged at the center of the conflict between the conservative and the progressive factions. If this reform succeeds in restoring the public’s trust in the military, it will have contributed to mitigating the horizontal conflict between the conservative and the progressive forces in society as well as to ameliorating the vertical conflict among the different generations within the armed forces. It must be pointed out that two important factors leading to the failure of repeated reform attempts in the past were the lack of a comprehensive, pan-national approach to the problem and the absence of government-wide support measures. With “Defense Reform 2020,” military reform has emerged outside the boundaries of the armed forces for the first time since their establishment. Just as security and national defense are not the responsibility of soldiers alone, neither can military reform be left entirely in the hands of the armed forces. The leaders of our society are finally becoming aware of this truth. The recent debates regarding the draft bill of the fundamental laws and the Ministry of Defense’s promotional efforts to secure the sympathy of the public guarantee a level of transparency that is unprecedented in our history of reform. “Defense Reform 2020” must be differentiated from past reforms simply by the fact that it provides sufficient space and time for the public’s participation and surveillance.

목차

Ⅰ. ‘국방개혁 2020’, 합리적 타협의 산물이다

Ⅱ. ‘국방개혁 2020’의 성공적 진수, 무엇이 관건인가

Ⅲ. 국익 창출을 위한 국방개혁, 과연 불가능한가

Ⅳ. 맺는말

키워드

defense reform military reform 2020 Defense reform 2020 national defense system