‘I am an incompetent and irresponsible commander’: South Korean special forces unit chief apologizes for sending troops to National Assembly

26 comments

1. Hmmm… is this face saving(reputation) or life saving(threats from higher ups to cover up for the Boss) statement? Koreans can chime in.

2. At least he’s honest… that’s rare in leadership these days.

3. I hope US military leadership is paying attention.

4. I don’t think he should be held liable, he followed a direct order from the most powerful and important leader of his nation. From his perspective, how would he have known whether or not there was a real and direct threat to the nation?

5. He wouldn’t be saying that if the autogolpe succeeded.

6. Chain of command is important. So is intelligence. Deciding what’s what, when’s when is not simple. Poor guy got stuck in the middle.

7. Very refreshing vs the current culture of doubling down on mistakes while blaming everyone else we see in the West / US daily.

   I honestly can’t remember the last time any leader – political, military, or corporate said “I was wrong, my fault” in the recent years? Can you?

8. To everyone praising his humility – it’s either incompetence or treason.

9. Prolly wouldn’t have said that if it turned out to be successful

10. Good on him for taking responsibility

11. He was following orders but it takes a man to admit that wasn’t the best choice.

12. Well, it’s better to say “I’m a fuckup” than trying to get people to understand he had to obey the president because a military not listening to the president is absolutely horrifying. No one wants to hear “I was only following orders” anymore.

13. Alex I’ll take 500 hundred for “phrases trump would never say”

14. Why is this calling out the defense minister. The President did this. I really hope these guys don’t get away with scapegoating the defense minister. He did the wrong thing, but he has the same “just following orders” defense as the soldiers on the ground. The President needs to pay for this. And no one who followed orders to destroy democracy should ever be entrusted with a position of power again.

15. Wasn’t that his job though? Like when the leader of the country declares martial law, the. The military sends in the troops to enforce it?

16. Special force unit chief can’t send his men to the National Assembly without the order from the higher up no ? This dude is a scapegoat.

17. Incompetent because they didn’t achieve their objectives.

18. That’s so the Korean way, a big ass apology.

    Certainly was warranted.

    At least this guy had the character to resign. Unlike Yoon.

19. A criminal** and incompetent/irresponsible commander

20. The honesty and respect for the rule of law is impressive.

21. This is a good leader. Held back, took the fall.

    This guy is not the guy you want to go after. This guy actively ensured the safety of the situation instead of its escalation.

22. We… don’t have a lot of room to judge.

23. Tbh I think he handled things well. Sent troops per orders, didn’t shoot anyone, troops withdrawn when ordered to, took the blame to protect institutions.

24. >>“I am an incompetent and irresponsible commander. I pushed the unit to the brink,” Kim said. “The troops are not at fault. If they are guilty of anything, it is following the orders of an incapable commander.”

    Sounds like he’s trying to fall on the sword so his subordinates don’t face any trouble.

25. The fact that he can admit this makes me think he’s probably a better commander than a lot of people in similar roles.

26. Hopefully homie doesn’t kill himself. I don’t know if Koreans have that in their culture. I’m also sorry if that comes across as insensitive.

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