The Implementation of South Korea’s Military Technology Reform in The Perspective of Techno-nationalism

Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) requires fundamental reforms on its 3 main pillars, namely military technology, doctrine, and organizational reform. South Korea is one of the states that has taken steps to initiate the RMA through defense reform policies. South Korea have initiated its own version of RMA by prioritizing the revolution of military technology rather than any other aspects. This article aims to explain why South Korea prioritizes its military modernization through the development of its domestic defense industry. This research applies the concept of military techno-nationalism impulse with a qualitative approach and literature review method to collect data from official documents, websites of the government, journals, and scientific reports. The results of the research indicate that South Korea's choice to prioritize the development of its domestic defense industry is not merely pushed by the urgency to decrease its dependencies toward the United States, but also by the desire to pursue for strategic power to face the North Korean threat as well as other states around the region that full of antagonism atmosphere, to obtain broader economic benefits through the spin-off effect of industrialization, and to gain international prestige as one of the largest arms exporter as well as standing equal with other regional players.

A literature review of recent topics in Korean Military Art and Science

The Republic of Korea, which is the only divided country in the world, is an extremely prominent country facing an existential enemy named “North Korea”. In Korea, the military science field is gaining interest and importance. However, as it is a specialized field, research is scarce. In this study, through text mining, we attempted to analyze 69 regular papers’ abstracts in the military science and domestic social science fields. These abstracts were present in the Korea Citation Index (KCI), which publishes the latest research trends and, in this case, trends in military studies. As a result, research is being conducted on various subjects. In particular, 63% (44) of these were found to be related to the construction of military power such as security cooperation, external situations, research and development, and defense reform. This study applied an unstructured data analysis method called text mining and attempted to analyze the subject of several papers from a more scientific perspective. Hence, it can be considered a study of great significance as it was able to provide an overall understanding of general research trends and trends in recent military studies.

The basic terminology of the modern military logistics

The article reveals the content of the military logistics basic terms. Different approaches to the construction of conceptual foundations, structure and functionality of this area are considered. The meaning of the term “logistics of the defense sector” is substantiated. The spheres and functionality of military logistics are outlined. The conditions for the integration of logistics and medical support systems, which are able to provide support to all components of the defense forces and the civilian population of the country, have been studied. The research is based on the main strategic goals of the state in the framework of defense reform: the National Security Strategy of Ukraine to ensure Ukraine’s integration into the European Union and the formation of conditions for NATO membership. Approaches to structuring definitions and concepts of modern military logistics taking into account the military-political realities of Ukraine are offered. The term “military logistics” is proposed to be interpreted in two ways: first, as a practical activity (a means of implementing operational, tactical or strategic tasks of the defense sector in real resources and time); secondly, as a scientific field aimed at developing models for optimizing the logistics processes of the state defense sector.