Thread by @koryodynasty

1/ Posting on Facebook, President Lee Jae Myung said South Korea must shed the "submissive thinking" (굴종적 사고) that it cannot defend itself without foreign troops, vowing a shift to a smaller, tech-driven "smart force" and "complete independent defence posture."

2/ Lee outlined his vision: "AI combat robots capable of autonomous detection, judgement, targeting and firing, armed autonomous drones, ultra-precision attack and defence missiles" where "50 personnel can easily handle not just 100 enemies, but thousands or tens of thousands."

3/ He wants to transform from "a past-era force dependent on human wave tactics based on troop numbers into a competent, specialised smart elite strong force armed with hybrid manned-unmanned systems."

4/ Cited advantages: annual defence budget "approximately 1.4 times North Korea's entire national output," world's 5th military power ranking, economic strength "dozens of times that of North Korea," and 2.6 million trained reserves "ready for immediate deployment."

5/ The president warned that "humanity is passing through the longest period of peace and coexistence in history" but now "the entire world is heading beyond conflict and confrontation toward extreme confrontation and large-scale armed clashes."

6/ Crucially, he said South Korea "must neither be dragged into external military conflicts nor have our security threatened." He called "strong autonomous independent defence" the "most important task in the current period."

7/ Lee invoked former President Roh Moo-hyun, who famously used crude military slang "shit stars" (똥별) (i.e. incompetent generals) to denounce the perception that "in a country spending so much on defence, we cannot defend ourselves without foreign armies."

8/ This comes as Lee's government confirmed plans to transfer wartime operational command (OPCON) from the US as a policy goal within his 5-year term. koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-09-1…

9/ This also comes as the US publicly pushes for "strategic flexibility", that is, the ability to redeploy American forces stationed in South Korea for broader regional missions. koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/editor…

10/ Lee's coded language suggests pushing back against expectations that S. Korea contribute to broader conflicts in the region, should US forces be diverted.

"The idea that we can remain neutral or uninvolved is a fantasy," says @InBum_Chun.

koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/column…

11/ There's also a burden-sharing subtext. en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN202507…

12/ It seems that Lee is suggesting security through technological superiority rather than alliance dependence, allowing South Korea to avoid choosing sides should it come to it. Whether practical, political positioning, or wishful thinking, remains another question.