Lee Says South Korea Can Defend Itself Without Relying on Foreign Troops

President Lee Jae-myung on the 28th stressed self-reliant defense, saying, “A country should protect itself. Why depend on others? We can, naturally and sufficiently.”
 
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting he chaired at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said South Korea once faced difficulties but no longer does “thanks to the outstanding efforts and capabilities of the people.”
 
He said South Korea’s military capability, excluding U.S. Forces Korea, ranks fifth in the world and that its annual defense spending is 1.4 times North Korea’s annual gross domestic product. He added that South Korean forces are well trained and morale is high, that the country’s economic strength is not comparable to the North’s, and that its defense industry has risen to fourth in the world in exports.
 
“Then why do we keep feeling anxious, as if it would be difficult to defend ourselves without foreign troops?” Lee asked.
 
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back replied that “some forces tend to incite and stir that up,” but most people do not share that view. Lee urged him to “make this objective situation widely known to the public.”
 
Lee said the government should ensure that “even a small number” of people do not feel uneasy. “We must take responsibility ourselves with confidence,” he said, adding that the public should understand South Korea has sufficient capability now and “need not worry” that defense spending will be increased further.
 
Ahn reported that, in that context, South Korea also has tangible and intangible assets and a strategic system that could allow it to move up the timeline for regaining wartime operational control. Lee replied, “Of course it should.”
 
Lee also said payments of relief funds for damage from high oil prices began the day before. He instructed the government to closely manage the application process so people who have difficulty accessing online services are not inconvenienced, and to execute other supplementary budget funds as quickly as possible.
 
He said the government should also check for any blind spots in support for groups hit hard by high oil prices, such as cargo truck workers and farmers.
 
Lee said first-quarter GDP growth came in at 1.7%, nearly double the initial forecast of 0.9% and the highest in five years and six months. He said the recovery trend that began in the second half of last year appears to be accelerating.
 
But he warned that external uncertainty remains high as the Middle East war enters its second month, and that signs are emerging that the shock from high oil prices could spread to the real economy. He said the government must respond with more finely tuned policies and “make an all-out effort” to sustain growth, with the mindset that “true crisis management starts now.”   
Meanwhile, the Cabinet meeting reviewed and approved a package of items including 27 presidential decree bills, three promulgation bills, one bill, 10 general agenda items and one report item, including steps to respond to high oil prices driven by the Middle East situation.
 
The revisions include extending by two months, from the 30th of this month to June 30, a temporary flexible tax-rate cut on the individual consumption tax for butane, and expanding the size of the cut.
 
The meeting also passed a revision to the enforcement decree of the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act, which sets detailed categories for management-fee information landlords must provide to tenants. The change is tied to an amended law that will take effect in May and creates tenants’ right to request management-fee breakdowns.
 
Landlords must specify amounts for 14 categories, including general management fees, cleaning and security. To ease the burden on small landlords, if a tenant’s monthly management fee is less than 100,000 won, landlords may list only the categories without itemized amounts.
 
The Cabinet also approved an agenda item to exempt preliminary feasibility studies and related procedures to speed housing supply using public idle land and aging government buildings. The measure is tied to the “plan to expand and accelerate urban housing supply” announced Jan. 29, which calls for supplying 60,000 homes for young people and newlyweds in prime locations in the Seoul metropolitan area.

In a closed meeting, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Finance and Economy presented reports on major real estate policy issues.
 
Senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong said in a written briefing that discussions included a plan to defer the owner-occupancy requirement, for fairness with multi-homeowners, when a nonresident one-homeowner sells a home that has a tenant.