IINSTP
Informal Institute for National Security Thinkers and Practitioners 

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
- Winston Churchill
 
"The salvation of the common people of every race and of every land from war or servitude must be established on solid foundations and must be guarded by the readiness of all men and women to die rather than submit to tyranny."
- Winston Churchill
 
"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations."
- Winston Churchill
(Okay, I am guilty - I am trying to become an educated man - and I love collecting quotations)



To sign up for emails please use this link: Sign Up

I hope the ROK government is not getting ahead of itself (and again please recall the KFR strategy of subversion, coercion, and use of force). We should keep in mind that north Korea's forces are postured for offensive operations (e.g, to attack the South) with some 70% of its forces forward stationed between the DMZ and Pyongyang.  ROK forces are positioned for defensive operations.  While I support confidence building measures they should at least be mutual and simultaneous.  Perhaps the forces they will reduce will not hinder readiness for defense against attack.  Some would consider the guard posts in the DMZ as little more than speed bumps in case of an attack and are really only necessary to defend against infiltration and not attack so maybe a symbolic reduction of troops only within the DMZ will not affect the defense plans. But I am concerned.

Since this action could potentially impact the defense plan this might be an issue that should be discussed and approved by the Military Committee at the Security Consultative Meeting/Military Consultative Meeting (SCM/MCM) this fall since it could have an impact on the combined defense plan of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command which is charged with deterring war and defending the ROK if deterrence fails.

Seoul considers reducing troops along N. Korea border zone

SEOUL (AFP) -
South Korea is considering withdrawing some troops from its border zone with North Korea as a confidence-building measure after their landmark summit, the defence ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry said it would withdraw some soldiers and equipment at guard posts inside the Demilitarised Zone on a trial basis, and consider a gradual expansion of the pullout later.
"We will push for plans for a full-scale withdrawal in sync with surveys of historical remains and ecological features," it said in a report to parliament.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war. The DMZ was designated as a buffer zone but the areas to the north and south of it are heavily fortified.
At their April summit, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South's president Moon Jae-in agreed to cease all hostile acts and turn their border into a "peace zone".
Also under consideration is a joint programme with the North and the United States to exhume the remains of war dead buried in the DMZ.
The zone bisects the Korean peninsula and is about four kilometres (2.5 miles) wide. It includes a Joint Security Area (JSA) around the truce village of Panmunjom, where negotiations take place.
The ministry also said Seoul was reviewing plans to reduce guard personnel and firearms in the JSA, "based on the spirit of the armistice agreement".
North Korea's diplomatic overtures began earlier this year with its participation in the Winter Olympics in the South.
In June Kim held a historic summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore at which he reaffirmed his commitment to work towards the "denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".
After the summit, Trump declared the North Korean nuclear threat to be effectively over, although experts say Pyongyang has made no public commitment to give up its weapons.


De Oppresso Liber,

David S. Maxwell
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161


If you do not read anything else in the 2017 National Security Strategy read this on page 14:

"A democracy is only as resilient as its people. An informed and engaged citizenry is the fundamental requirement for a free and resilient nation. For generations, our society has protected free press, free speech, and free thought. Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. The American public and private sectors must recognize this and work together to defend our way of life. No external threat can be allowed to shake our shared commitment to our values, undermine our system of government, or divide our Nation."