Publication

A Security Review of the Lee Jae-myung Government's First 15 Months

This issue brief compiles officially announced or multiply confirmed facts on inter-Korean relations, border-area security and military administration from the government's inauguration on June 4, 2025 through September 22, 2026, and reviews them against four criteria: change in the threat, risk of clashes, readiness, and policy implementation. The government halted and dismantled loudspeakers, declared a preemptive restoration of the September 19 Military Agreement and proposed military talks; North Korea's halt of noise broadcasts is the only confirmed response, while the North launched ballistic missiles 14 times in 2026 and revised its constitution to delete the unification principle. In military administration, vacancies among general officers, a year-end delay in allocating 1.8 trillion won in defense funds, a withdrawn gate-guard baton directive, and the 1st Corps' unloaded guard posts and mistaken response to a U.S. drone were confirmed. In the Institute for Reform's September 22 poll, 83.1% saw North Korea's DMZ activities as a threat and 67.8% said the military is not responding well. The brief presents seven review tasks, including criteria for evaluating the reciprocity of tension-reduction measures, rules on reporting changes to guard directives, year-end disbursement procedures and a comparison of Armistice Agreement judgments.