South Korea released its 2022 National Defense White Paper on Feb. 16, which re-designated the North Korean regime and military as "enemies" for the first time in six years.
The Defense Ministry explained that it decided to re-phrase North Korea as an "enemy" in light of the fact that North Korea considers itself an enemy and continues to increase its nuclear and military threat.
This is the first White Paper on National Defense since the Yoon Suk Yeol administration came into power. According to Yonhap News Agency on the 16th, since North Korea will be designated as a "clear enemy" by the 6th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in December 2022, South Korea has also decided to consider the regime and military forces of North Korea as enemies.
The White Paper shows the determination of the South Korean military to enhance its combat capabilities and strengthen its responsive attitude, reflecting the government's policy direction of "Korea’s Leap into the Indo-Pacific" and "increasing security cooperation between Korea, the United States, and Japan".
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