In the Catholic Times, the director of a Theological Research Institute gives us some thoughts on the military situation in Korea.
During holidays, she gathers with her friends, seniors, and juniors, who were active at the church when she was young, goes to Mass, eats together, and shares stories. Since they were friends who got married and had children around the same time, the main topic of this Harvest Festival Holiday meeting was the story of their sons who will soon be enlisting in the military or who are currently serving in the military. It seems like it was just yesterday that she was sending letters of consolation to soldiers when she was a student and now that she has a ‘soldier son’, they talked about the military for a long time, realizing how old they were.
A friend whose son entered the military last spring said these days, soldiers can use their cell phones during their free time, to send letters through the military communication service application, and the soldier's salary has also increased significantly, the welfare of soldiers has improved a lot, it was now possible to put aside a sum of money.
Her friend encouraged her son to go to Sunday Mass when he goes to the military, and he said he would. At the training camp, he attended Mass as promised, but only two of the soldiers were Catholics, there was no church in the unit where he was assigned, so he did not go to Mass. She got a glimpse into the reality of military chaplaincy even so briefly.
The military story of her friend ended in his son's heartbreaking experience when he was injured in training and was hospitalized for over a month. At that time, the fatal accident of a corporal of the Marine Corps made the news. [Marine died during search and rescue operations for victims of torrential rains earlier that week] Hearing this news he rushed to the unit and it was then he heard the news of his own son's accident and hospital stay. The son did not notify the family not wanting to cause them worry and only told the father the news after his son was discharged from the hospital and returned to the unit.
Her friend said that he realized how much it meant to be ‘discharged at full service as a sergeant’, which is given to those who have completed their military service safely. He asked us to pray that the son would safely complete the remaining period of his service.
In the past, it was taken for granted that a man should serve in the military but after hearing these stories, she felt sorry for the situation of men in their 20s who were born in this divided land and have to bear the heavy duty of national defense.
This year, the Armed Forces Day event featured a street parade with large-scale troops and weapons equipment mobilized. It is said that this is the first street march held in 10 years in response to North Korea's military provocations. A budget of 10 billion won was invested. Rather than feeling proud of our military power and weapons, people thought: 'This is a scene we have often seen in North Korea.' 'But' was the first thought that came to many minds. She doesn't know why a country that already spends more on its military than North Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) would make such a show, with the international situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula in such an unusual condition. She feels uncomfortable because it feels like we can go to war at any time.
Even before the Armed Forces Day event, flight training took place over downtown Seoul for a few days, and even though she received a notification text message from the city of Seoul and knew that this was a training situation, the sound of combat planes flying low in the middle of the city made her feel scared. It is obvious that as military tensions rise, the military life of soldiers will become more difficult, and if war breaks out, the lives of our sons on the front lines will be the first to be endangered.
The motto for this Armed Forces Day event was 'Peace through Strength'. The teachings of the Catholic Church state that peace through force only encourages the arms race. "The accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations. This method of deterrence gives rise to strong moral reservations. The arms race does not ensure peace. Far from eliminating the causes of war, it risks aggravating them. Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of weapons impedes efforts to aid needy populations; it thwarts the development of people. Over armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 2315).
Even though people around the world believe that strong military power can bring peace, we believers who follow the Catholic Church’s teachings on peace must remember that "true peace is only possible through forgiveness and reconciliation" (Summary Social Doctrine, Paragraph 517).
