Collapsing Security, Repeating History

 Collapsing Security, Repeating History

                    History clearly records the fate of nations that lacked the will to defend themselves and held no firm philosophy regarding their own system. Are we not repeating the folly of the Joseon court, which was blinded by complacent peace rhetoric right before the Imjin War and ignored the signs of impending conflict? Under the sweet-sounding mantle of 'peace,' the pillars of our national security are crumbling one by one.

                    The attitude of eyeing China's reaction—packaged under the name of 'pragmatic diplomacy'—is nothing short of disarmament, yielding sovereignty to a force that does not share our values or system. Even after witnessing firsthand how democracy was destroyed in Hong Kong and how Tibet was absorbed, we remain passive toward the absurdity of granting local election voting rights to Chinese permanent residents without applying the principle of reciprocity.

                    Substantive penetration into our security and national assets is already proven in concrete figures across our land and residential areas. According to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport statistics as of the end of 2025, land owned by foreigners in Jeju Province exceeded 21.91 million square meters, accounting for 1.18% of the island's total area. Of this, nearly 10 million square meters—more than 40%—is owned by Chinese nationals. While Jeju land equivalent to dozens of times the area of Marado has passed into Chinese hands, key areas critical to defense and national security have been left to foreign hands without proper restrictions.

                    Penetration into the residential property market is even more serious. According to the same late-2025 statistics, Chinese nationals accounted for 56.8% of the 108,000 foreign-owned housing units nationwide, monopolizing a clear majority. Their buying spree is spreading rapidly into major areas of the Seoul metropolitan region. In a situation where capital and manpower are aggressively encroaching upon our territory and daily living assets, talking about national security and national interest is little more than idle deception.

                    Recently, a shocking incident occurred where two Chinese nationals were arrested for photographing and wiretapping around U.S. military bases in Korea and transmitting core security intelligence to their home country. This is a stark example showing that the nation's key security sites have turned into a playground for Chinese spies. Nevertheless, the revision to the Criminal Act—which expands the application of espionage charges from an 'enemy state' to 'foreign countries' so that foreign espionage can be punished—remains unpassed due to opposition from the Democratic Party of Korea. As a result, a state of legal defenselessness persists, allowing Chinese spies to operate freely on South Korean soil without legal hindrance.

                    Furthermore, reckless leaks of secrets and information management failures within the foreign affairs and security line have inflicted critical cracks on the trust of the blood-forged ROK-U.S. alliance. Self-inflicting an unprecedented security vacuum where top-level intelligence sharing regarding North Korea is restricted, and then packaging it as a 'manageable matter,' is merely deception aimed at hoodwinking the public. Who is this 'pragmatism' really for if it collapses the trust of our alliance and shatters our security umbrella?

                    Even more tragic is that the foundation of the military tasked with protecting the nation is collapsing from within. Junior and mid-level officers, who form the backbone of national defense on the ground, are leaving the military, unable to endure poor treatment and declining morale. Recruitment rates for officers have plummeted to all-time lows. On top of this, as the Defense Counterintelligence Command—which served as our security shield—has been neutralized, the capacity to detect spies and security threats has significantly regressed. In a situation where the bedrock of the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture is shaking, talking about 'advanced self-reliant defense' with a few armchair indicators is nothing more than hollow talk. No matter how advanced the weapon systems are, any space lacking the personnel to operate them, counterintelligence networks, and a solid security mindset is ultimately a hollow shell.

                    Security can never be an object of compromise or experimentation. Appeasement policies that abandon the basics of value-based diplomacy and hollow peace rhetoric do not save a nation; they push it onto the most dangerous path. If we fail to realize the gravity of national sovereignty and allow the encroachment of our territorial and residential assets, compromised intelligence networks, legal loopholes, and the neutralization of our military to go unchecked, the future we face will be no different from the records of ruin throughout history. What is needed now is not sweet illusions, but a cold-eyed awareness of reality and a firm commitment to defend ourselves.