Continued suspension of military leadership from duties: Is readiness at risk?

[Anchor]

The Army Chief of Staff, Park An-soo, who was the martial law commander, has been suspended from duty.

The military authorities explain that there are no issues with the readiness posture, but concerns remain as the leadership is being shaken as a whole.

We have a report from Ji Hyung-cheol.

[Report]

Army Chief of Staff Park An-soo served as the martial law commander during the emergency martial law.

He has been placed on standby at a unit in the metropolitan area following his suspension from duty.

Including General Park, a total of seven generals have been suspended from duty, all of whom played key roles in the readiness posture against North Korea.

Six field commanders, including Kim Hyun-tae, the head of the 707th Special Missions Group, who were deployed to the National Assembly at the time of the martial law declaration, are also under investigation.

As the command structure faces disruptions with the leadership being sidelined, concerns about security have increased, prompting the military to clarify the situation.

[Jeon Ha-kyu/Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson: "The acting officials are currently located at the respective units and are carrying out their duties. The field units and operational units are currently performing their missions under that command structure."]

A military official also stated that operational command, not military governance, is being handled by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasizing that all situations are functioning according to the manual.

However, if this situation continues for an extended period, disruptions to routine missions such as unit operations and training are inevitable.

Even if other generals fill the vacant positions, if a critical situation arises and escalates through the command chain, there will be controversy over who will make the final decision.

[Yang Wook/Research Fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies: "The most concerning thing is that there are decisions that only the commander-in-chief of the armed forces can make. The question is, who is making those decisions now?"]

Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff held a readiness posture review meeting and emphasized that they will focus solely on the military's original mission while maintaining political neutrality.

The Ministry of National Defense and the ROK-US Combined Forces Command also stated that they will ensure that external factors do not undermine the combined defense system.

This is Ji Hyung-cheol from KBS News.