Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense on the 29th told the leadership of each service that "both peace and dialogue must be grounded in overwhelming power," stressing the need to establish the military's readiness posture.
Minister Ahn received New Year business briefings from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps at Gyeryongdae on the day. The newly reorganized leadership of each service, following the general officer personnel reshuffle, attended the briefing. The briefing focused on ▲ establishing military readiness ▲ the status of promoting the 2040 force structure reform ▲ building an elite, advanced strong military, including training 500,000 drone warriors ▲ the status of efforts to improve military treatment.
Minister Ahn, quoting the saying "Cheonhasuan Mangjeonpilwi" (天下雖安 忘戰必危: even if the world is at peace, forgetting to prepare for war will surely bring peril), said, "Let us be a reliable peacemaker with strong power."
At the Army briefing, Minister Ahn checked the progress of training "500,000 drone warriors" and received a report on detailed plans, including securing 11,265 training drones this year with core parts domestically produced. The military decided to invest 29.3 billion won to carry out the plan. Minister Ahn told Navy headquarters, "With President Lee Jae-myung's decision, the door to nuclear-powered submarines has opened," and emphasized, "As the Navy stands at the center of a national strategic project, prepare all matters necessary for operations."
Minister Ahn also reviewed each service's reform status, including the Army's direction for unit structure reform, the Air Force's appropriate force structure, and preparations to outsource civilian personnel. Minister Ahn said, "Force structure reform is not a choice but an essential task," and urged, "Pursue the reform with a bone-deep sense of urgency and exercise collective intelligence so that 15 years from now we can hand over a prepared military to our juniors."
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps said in the briefing that, to swiftly transition to a quasi-fourth service structure, it will form an integrated task force (TF) with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and will aim to complete the transfer of operational control for the 1st Marine Division this year and the 2nd Marine Division by 2028. The Marine Corps also reported it will phase in key assets to strengthen amphibious operations capabilities, including K2 tanks, amphibious assault vehicles (KAAV-II), and amphibious attack helicopters.