South Korean Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Skywatcher said:

Will the Department of National Safety take charge of the Coast Guard assets on the Dokdo Islands?

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Koreas exchange fire near disputed sea boundary
May. 22, 2014 - 03:12PM |

By Hyung-Jin Kim
The Associated Press
FILED UNDER
News
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North and South Korean warships exchanged artillery fire Thursday in disputed waters off the western coast, South Korean military officials said, in the latest sign of rising animosity between the bitter rivals in recent weeks.

Officials from the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry said a South Korean navy ship was engaged in a routine patrol near the countries' disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea when a North Korean navy ship fired two artillery shells. The shells did not hit the South Korean ship and fell in waters near it, they said.

The South Korean ship then fired several artillery rounds in waters near the North Korean ship, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

South Korea was trying to determine if the North Korean ship had attempted to hit the South Korean vessel but missed, or if the shells were not meant to hit the ship.

Officials said that residents on the frontline Yeonpyeong Island were evacuated to shelters, and fishing ships in the area were ordered to return to ports. In 2010, North Korea fired artillery at the island, killing two civilians and two marines.

Kang Myeong-sung, a Yeonpyeong resident, said in a phone interview that hundreds of residents were in underground shelters after loudspeakers ordered them there. He heard the sound of artillery fire and said many people felt uneasy at first but later began to stop worrying.

Both Koreas regularly conduct artillery drills in the disputed waters. The sea boundary is not clearly marked, and the area has been the scene of three bloody naval skirmishes between the rival Koreas since 1999.

North Korea has in recent weeks conducted a string of artillery drills and missile tests and has unleashed a torrent of racist and sexist rhetoric at the leaders of the U.S. and South Korea.

On Tuesday, South Korean navy ships fired warning shots to repel three North Korean warships that briefly violated the disputed sea boundary. On Wednesday, North Korea's military vowed to retaliate.

North Korean military ships and fishing boats have routinely intruded into South Korean-controlled waters that the North doesn't recognize. The Yellow Sea boundary was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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Air Force Brat said:

No doubt, we will all be safer tonight, pleasant dreams, the Department of National Safety is watching your six tonight !

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Skywatcher said:

I wish they'd choose a more specifically nautical name. "National Safety" borders on Orwellian with its nanny-state like vagueness.

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US Seeks Greater Missile Defense Cooperation By Japan, South Korea
May. 28, 2014 - 02:51PM | By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE |

FILED UNDER
World News
Asia & Pacific Rim
WASHINGTON — A top US military official on Wednesday called for better missile defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea, in the face of strained ties between America’s two closest Asia allies and a belligerent North Korea.

“We’re encouraging our allies and partners to acquire their own missile defenses and to strengthen regional missile defense cooperation that will result in better performance than individual countries acting alone,” said Adm. James Winnefeld, vice-chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff.

“We will continue to emphasize the importance of developing regional ballistic missile defense systems,” Winnefeld said during a speech at the Atlantic Council think tank.

“This is a very politically sensitive topic for several of our regional allies, but progress in this area would only increase our confidence in the face of persistent North Korean provocations,” Winnefeld said.

“This is about ensuring we can deny the objectives of any insecure authoritarian state that believes acquisition of deliverable weapons of mass destruction is key to the preservation of its regime.”

Winnefeld said that in terms of weapons capability Pyongyang poses the greatest threat, “followed by Iran.”

His appeal comes with relations between Seoul and Tokyo at their lowest level in years, strained by Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea and a territorial dispute over islets in waters between the two countries.

Despite those regional tensions, Washington likely will “come to rely more” on its Asian allies “to resource the means for their defense,” the admiral said — especially “in a world of declining budgets.”

North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program is a major security concern in the Pacific region and beyond.

Despite international isolation and extensive sanctions, Pyongyang appears to be readying a fourth nuclear test, observers have said.

While it’s among the states most concerned about North Korea, resource-poor Japan has maintained friendly relations with oil-rich Iran through its years of ostracism, keeping up a diplomatic dialogue during Tehran’s decades long confrontation with Washington.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington is weighing a plan to deploy an advanced missile-defense system in South Korea, one that could intercept short, medium and intermediate missiles.

The anti-missile system THAAD, short for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, is similar to one deployed by the United States to protect bases in its territory of Guam.

A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steven Warren, said Wednesday that while THAAD is “a very capable system ... as of today, there’s been no decision” by Seoul or Washington to deploy a battery in South Korea.

Winnefeld argued that a regional approach to missile defense could help spread the costs, noting that a single THAAD missile interceptor costs around $11 million compared to $3 million for a Scud, North Korea’s preferred missile.

Meanwhile, Winnefeld said the United States will deploy an additional TPY-2 radar in Japan by the end of 2014 “to both improve our homeland and regional defense capabilities.”

He added that the United States is also continuing to operate the Sea-based X-Band Radar (SBX) “as needed in the Pacific” and is planning to deploy a new, long-range radar for the Pacific region around 2020.

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Pacific Sentinel said:

MARIETTA, Ga., May 30, 2014 – Two additional C-130J Super Hercules aircraft operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) ferried from the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facility here today.

These C-130Js will join the ROKAF’s other two Super Hercules aircraft, which were delivered in March. ROKAF aircrews also currently operate a fleet of C-130H legacy aircraft.

The ROKAF’s new Super Hercules is the longer fuselage or “stretched” combat delivery variant. Lockheed Martin is also contracted to provide a two-year support program, including C-130J aircrew and maintenance training. South Korea is the 14th country to fly the proven C-130J.

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