In his inauguration, President Lee Myung-bak has announced five policy goals in order to realize the vision for the nation. One of the goals is 'Global Korea.' In this policy goal, Lee suggests a new cooperative framework in Asia in addition to streng...
In his inauguration, President Lee Myung-bak has announced five policy goals in order to realize the vision for the nation. One of the goals is 'Global Korea.' In this policy goal, Lee suggests a new cooperative framework in Asia in addition to strengthening the ROK-U.S. Alliance. This study begins with the overview of the policy goal, and suggests that ROK is faced with various challenges in 21st century with regard to non-military and transnational threat. To face the non-traditional threat, International cooperation is inevitable. Yet, the defense strategy of ROK is focusing on the military defense from the North Korean threat. The changes in policy provided by president Lee is thus very timely and proper. On the other hand, ROK must enhance its military capability in a way to fit international cooperation. To do the job, she must globalize its defense policy. The first step is to enlarge cooperation with international community. The next step is to reinforce her participation in UN PKO. These measures do aim not only to make a contribution on international affairs but also to compensate former help given by many countries during and after the Korean war. Since the non-traditional threat can only be solved through the effective international cooperation, ROK should be active in playing its role as a member of international community. Finally, this study ends with several observations on what seems to be helpful measures for reinforcing military capability under the vision of Global Korea: enlarging military cooperation, expanding the foreign military experience, and adjusting military education and training.