Category: US-ROK Alliance

The prior rocket launch the U.S. and the ROK were able to recover much of the rocket. According to the article the North Koreans this time may have deliberately destroyed the rocket once it began to fail in order to prevent its recovery:

The United States is assisting the South Korean military in retrieving wreckage from North Korea’s failed reconnaissance satellite launch, a senior defense official told lawmakers Friday.

Seoul and Washington are working to salvage the space launch vehicle from the Yellow Sea and are analyzing the launch together, Heo Taekeun, chief of South Korea’s National Defense Policy Department, said at a televised hearing of the parliamentary National Defense Committee.

Neither Heo nor National Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup disclosed during the hearing how U.S. forces are contributing to the search. U.S. Forces Korea did not immediately respond to requests for comment by phone and email Monday.

The search for debris continued Monday, National Defense Ministry spokesman Jeon Ha Kyou told reporters that day.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and the ROK continues to develop. I doubt President Biden even knows what Dokdo is, but if he can negotiate some kind of settlement on that issue it would greatly enhance bilateral relations:

An upcoming three-way summit between the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan will provide much-needed momentum for the two Asian nations to boost security cooperation, analysts said Wednesday, as Washington pushes to cement trilateral cooperation to tackle common challenges the three countries face.

U.S President Joe Biden invited President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida for a three-way meeting at Camp David in Maryland on Aug. 18, which would be the first standalone trilateral summit. The three leaders have held joint meetings on the sidelines of multilateral gatherings until now, but have never held a formal trilateral summit. 

The three leaders are expected to announce a joint statement highlighting strengthened trilateral cooperation against North Korea’s aggression and closer economic ties. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration was not in favor of the THAAD deployment and made things hard on USFK to sustain the unit such as delaying the environmental assessment:

 A thorough investigation is necessary if there are suspicions that the previous Moon Jae-in administration deliberately dragged its feet in normalizing the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, a senior presidential official said Wednesday.

Allegations have arisen that the Moon administration deliberately delayed the publishing of an environmental assessment report of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery base, which was installed in Seongju, 214 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 2017. 

Since its installation, the unit has been kept in a temporary status pending the assessment.

“The normalization of the Seongju base is an essential measure for the Korea-U.S. combined defense posture,” the official said. “If there are suspicions this measure was deliberately delayed, I think we have to provide related facts to the people through a thorough investigation.”

Normalization of the THAAD base picked up speed after President Yoon Suk Yeol came into office. 

Earlier this year, the environment ministry concluded that the base poses no health hazards, saying the maximum amount of electromagnetic waves emanating from the THAAD base was just 0.2 percent of the legal safety protection standard.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Yoon administration should also investigate why the Moon administration allowed protesters to almost continuously break the law and block the road forcing USFK to move personnel and equipment to the THAAD site via helicopter.

It appears the pro-US-ROK alliance activists greatly outnumbered the anti-US protesters last week outside of Camp Humphreys:

Thousands of demonstrators converged outside Camp Humphreys on the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, prompting a response by hundreds of police officers and snarling traffic on the U.S. Army installation.

Activists — some opposed to the U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula, some in full-throated support — arrived in dozens of buses throughout Thursday, some coming from as far as Busan, about 150 miles south of the U.S. base in Pyeongtaek.

The atmosphere outside the gates resembled a music festival: Whistles, chants and techno music blared from speakers mounted on parked cars as delivery trucks hauled digital billboards scrolling “Support U.S. alliance” slowly past the crowd.

Around 8,000 people gathered near at least two of the base’s six gates, the largest assembly in the area since South Korea ended COVID-19 social distancing restrictions in April 2022, according to an email Friday from Erick Crudup, operations officer for the base Directorate of Emergency Services.

Activists on both sides of the road leading to Yoon Gate — the main entrance to Humphreys — chanted “USA” while waving American and South Korean flags. U.S. service members driving past the scene honked their horns and waved in support.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but according to the article there was only about 100 anti-US protesters present. This is in stark contrast to the massive hate filled anti-US protests that were launched when Camp Humphreys was being expanded years ago.

It looks like this is the response to North Korea’s ICBM launch, holding a trilateral missile defense exercise:

South Korea, the United States and Japan held a joint naval drill, the South Korean Navy said Sunday, in a show of strengthened trilateral military cooperation against North Korea’s escalating nuclear threats.

The three allies staged a missile defense exercise in international waters between South Korea and Japan, Sunday, mobilizing three Aegis-equipped destroyers ― ROKS Yulgok Yi I, USS John Finn and JS Maya ― to enhance readiness against North Korea’s missile provocations.

The previous joint drill was held on April 17 and the latest one was the fourth combined exercise to take place during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Nuclear weapons will be returning to South Korea for the first time in decades:

Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus, deputy commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, speaks during a peace forum hosted by Yonhap News Agency and the unification ministry at a hotel in central Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

The United States will send a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea “in the near future” for the first time in decades, in another show of the U.S. commitment to the defense of its ally, the deputy commander of the U.S. Forces Korea said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus, who doubles as the commander of the U.S. Seventh Air Force, made the remarks at an annual forum hosted by Yonhap News Agency and the unification ministry in Seoul as the allies seek to bolster efforts to deter North Korea’s evolving military threats.

“In the near future, you can expect another show of the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence by a port visit by the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine,” he said, without specifying the timing of its visit.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is a pretty easy call for the White House because the American public will be calling for North Korea to be turned into a glowing parking lot of they fired nuclear weapons at South Korea and the U.S. troops stationed there:

 South Korea and the United States agreed to take “swift, overwhelming and decisive” action using all of their military capabilities, including U.S. nuclear weapons, in the event of North Korea’s nuclear attack, President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday.

Yoon made the remark during a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden following their summit talks at the White House, outlining a joint statement, dubbed the “Washington Declaration”, that they adopted to strengthen “extended deterrence” against the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This news is likely an effort to appease the majority of South Korea’s population that now supports the ROK developing their own nuclear weapons deterrent:

President Yoon Suk Yeol greets Korean nationals upon his arrival at Blair House in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time). Yoon is scheduled to hold a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

Seoul and Washington are likely to agree on carrying out joint planning and joint execution of U.S. nuclear assets, according to defense analysts, Tuesday, which would mark a major upgrade of the U.S. extended deterrence provided to its ally.

According to both governments, President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden will release an additional joint statement on strengthened extended deterrence after their summit at the White House on Wednesday (local time).

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

As long as President Emperor Xi is in charge, I don’t think the Chinese are interested in dialogue with Taiwan when they saw how effective blunt force was to crush Hong Kong and no one did anything to stop it. They are waiting for the right moment to use force against Taiwan as well when they feel like no one can stop them as well:

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the Department of State, is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on April 21, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)

A U.S. state department spokesperson on Friday echoed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent remarks against China changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the state department, also said the United States will continue to work with its allies, including South Korea, to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in dialogue with Taiwan,” the spokesperson told a daily press briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.