President Yoon Suk Yeol said national security starts with a will to protect free democracy.

At a commissioning ceremony for the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the Army Cadet Military School on Thursday, Yoon said at the core of a firm security readiness are officers' resolute views of the state and confronting enemy forces.

The president said North Korea, which has designated South Korea as a "hostile state" and "principal enemy," could most likely conduct various provocations and psychological warfare ahead of April's general elections, which is the basis of free democracy.

He urged the military to unite with the public at such a time to firmly defeat the regime's scheme to sway the South.

Yoon pledged to immediately and overwhelmingly respond to any type of provocation by the North, and to achieve "peace through strength" based on an overwhelming capability and readiness posture.