Restoring the Nexus of History-Theory-Doctrine in Military Thought: Implications for the Republic of Korea Army
Abstract
Military thought is the result of continuous intellectual activities and evolves into its contemporary context through the dynamic interaction of history, theory, and doctrine. In terms of this, the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army has a unique situation and its military thought did not follow this more general evolutionary process. Even though the Republic of Korea, today, has achieved an unprecedented economic development within a few decades and surprised the world with its accomplishments, the ROK Army did not develop its own military thought within this historical backdrop, but instead has had military systems imposed on it from the outside. Since its inception, there has been a strong tendency for the ROK Army to adapt the U.S. Army s lessons learned and depend on the U.S. military thought. As a result, the current doctrine of the ROK Army represents neither its historical lessons nor culturally-based modes of thinking. It mostly adopted the lessons learned from its ally. The purpose of this monograph is to understand the importance of military thought with its inherent context, illuminate the prevailing ROK army s military thought, and identify the source of the disconnection between history, theory, and doctrine. This monograph then explores what impact these disconnects had on the development of military thought and provides implications on how to develop its own military thought of the ROK Army in the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589528
Entities
People
- Kwonyoung Park
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College