Top commanders huddle to discuss summit results, political neutrality

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top commanders on Thursdays held a closed-door meeting to discuss the recent cross-border summit results, military readiness and political neutrality ahead of next month's local elections, the defense ministry said. Defense Minister Song Young-moo and some 50 senior officials from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps attended the four-hour-long session. "At this meeting, the commanders discussed the outcomes of the April 27 summit and readiness posture amid a change in the security environment," a ministry official told reporters, declining to be named. At the historic summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached a set of agreements to reduce military tensions, enhance cross-border cooperation and pursue the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula. Following the summit, the two sides have taken steps to build trust and lower border tensions, including turning off propaganda loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border. Among the key topics of the meeting was maintaining political neutrality ahead of the June 13 gubernatorial and mayoral elections. The defense ministry recently issued a code of conduct to all armed services on political neutrality online and offline. The move follows probes into allegations that military organizations, such as the cyber command, undertook clandestine political maneuvers years ago to sway public opinion in favor of the then-conservative government. sshluck@yna.co.kr (END)