Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) served in an elite special forces unit.

Of the 110 individuals recently referred for investigation by the government's task force on sedition involvement, 108 were military personnel. Among the 89 who faced disciplinary requests, 48 were also military. Investigations targeting the military are said to continue.

Accountability is necessary. However, the reality of a group on the front lines of national security becoming a target of collective suspicion and summons is a matter that warrants sober reflection. Is it truly desirable for the military, which should be focused on combat readiness and maintaining its strength, to be repeatedly placed at the center of investigations and pressure amidst the vortex of politics?

The Republic of Korea, with a military of less than 500,000 personnel, confronts North Korea's 1 million-strong army, which possesses weapons of mass destruction, including dozens of tactical nuclear weapons.

Under these circumstances, the military should stand on a foundation of trust, not be a constant object of suspicion. The moment power, lacking an understanding of the weight of security, views the military solely as an object of control, the nation's deterrence power is subtly weakened.

A Matter of 'Qualification,' Not Legality

Lee Jae-myung, Kim Min-seok, Jeong Cheong-rae, and Ahn Gyu-baek – their commonality is that they have not completed their mandatory military service. Regardless of how legitimate the reasons may be within legal procedures, public perception and moral standards are never confined within the text of a law book.

The Buddhist concept of dependent origination (연기) is the principle of interdependence and responsibility: "This exists, therefore that exists." The peace and power that someone enjoys are invariably rooted in the sacrifice and dedication of others.

The peace enjoyed today exists because of the soldiers enduring biting cold at General Outposts (GOPs), the Air Force risking their lives in the skies, and the Navy battling against rough waves.

To discuss national security without embodying this dependent connection is the arrogance of someone who, indebted to the suffering of others, forgets that debt and wields only their rights.

The military is not a battlefield of abstract concepts. It is a place where young lives are dedicated to the nation. Security strategies that have not personally experienced patrolling the DMZ, airborne training, ranger training, or the UDT experience in harsh waves are merely empty performances that ignore the realities on the ground.

The weight of orders that will decide the lives and deaths of tens of thousands must stem not from abstract legality but from the profound empathy and understanding that comes from personally experiencing the hardships of training on the front lines.

The veneer of legality does not mask moral deficiencies. A leader who discusses politics by leveraging the dedication of soldiers, yet fails to grasp the weight of that dedication, is as precarious as a mud wall built on a weak foundation during the rainy season.

Entrusting the nation's safety to those who lack dependent origination awareness goes against public common sense and moral expectations. Instead of hiding behind legal immunity, they must now demonstrate their qualifications to the public regarding the embodied experiences they have not undertaken.

The Question Israel Poses

Look at Israel. Israeli political leaders generally undergo the rigors of military service.

Yitzhak Rabin was a former general who fought in the War of Independence and the Six-Day War. Ehud Barak was a special forces commander with extensive combat experience.

The current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also served in an elite special forces unit and lost his brother in combat. For them, security is not theory but memory; not policy, but wounds.

In a society surrounded by hostile environments, security is not an abstract concept but a condition of life. A significant number of political leaders experience the weight of national defense through military service. A cultural foundation clearly exists where those who know the battlefield chart the nation's course.

For them, security is not an election strategy but a matter of survival.

"What have you sacrificed for this country?"

South Korea must also ask this.

Military experience is not a private resume item but the foundation of public responsibility. If one has not experienced it, they should be more humble; if one does not know it, they should strive to learn more.

Power that is ignorant of the military – does it truly have the right to speak of national security?

◆ Monk Eungcheon

Secretary-General of the Korean Buddhist National Defense Association

First Commander of the National Defense Monk Corps