Tag: ROK Marines

Condolences to the friends and family of the ROK Marine killed this week during flood rescue operations:

Rescue workers carry the body of a marine to an ambulance in Yecheon on July 19, 2023. He went missing earlier in the day after being swept away by a torrent while participating in search and rescue operations in the area. (Yonhap)

Rescue workers on Wednesday found the body of a marine who went missing after being swept away by a torrent in a southeastern county while participating in search and rescue (SAR) operations after heavy monsoon rains and landslides in the area.

The marine corporal, serving with the 1st Marine Infantry Division, disappeared into the Naeseong stream rapids in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province, 161 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at about 9:10 a.m. during SAR operations, ROK Marine Corps officials said. 

His body was discovered downstream at around 11:08 p.m. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I was wondering how long North Korea would wait before complaining about this announced joint exercise:

North Korea has stepped up criticism of South Korea and the United States for their resumption of joint marine exercises, calling the move a military act against the ongoing peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula.

The verbal provocation came a week after the allies resumed the marine drills, the Korea Marine exercise Program (KMEP), for two weeks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Seoul and Washington suspended a series of joint military drills this year in consideration of the reconciliatory relations between the two Koreas, but the allies decided to resume the drill to enhance defense readiness here.

“Seoul and Washington should stop such a military act and remain consistent in the ongoing tension-easing on the peninsula by stopping any military exercises,” Rodong Sinmun, the North’s official mouthpiece, said Monday.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I guess this exercise was small enough to not draw the ire of Kim Jong-un:

South Korea and the United States have resumed a joint Marine exercise after a six-month hiatus.

According to the Defense Ministry, South Korean Marine Corps and American troops from the III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa, Japan, launched a two-week “Korea Marine Exercise Program,” or KMEP, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province on Monday.

Around 500 military personnel are taking part in the annual drill intended to maintain joint defense readiness.

The two sides will begin actual maneuvers with troops, amphibious assault vehicles and other equipment on Tuesday.   [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to the families and friends affected by this tragic helicopter crash:

A Marine Corps helicopter crashed at a military airport in the southeastern city of Pohang on Tuesday, killing five of the six Marines aboard and injuring the other, officials said.

The helicopter was on a test flight in Pohang, some 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after repair when it went down from a height of about 10 meters around 4:46 p.m. and caught fire, Marine Corps officials said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Only in Korea does the holiday season mean that once again we get to see the annual pictures of half naked Marines frolicking in the snow:

About 400 U.S. and South Korean Marines took a break from honing their winter-warfare skills Tuesday for some friendly competition in the city that will host the upcoming Winter Olympics.

After doffing their shirts and yelling half-naked in the snow, the allies teamed up to battle each other in chicken fights, relay races and a free-for-all wrestling match.

It was a bit of levity to wrap up a tense year on the Korean Peninsula that saw more than 20 North Korean ballistic-missile tests, two underground nuclear blasts and an ongoing bitter war of words between Washington and Pyongyang.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Landing vehicles of the Marine Corps’s 2nd division in Ganghwa, west of Seoul, demonstrate a landing operation during a parliamentary on-site inspection on Oct. 30, 2017. (Yonhap)

South Korean marines jump from a military hot-air balloon over the southeastern city of Pohang on March 3, 2017, as they take part in an airdrop drill. (Yonhap)

It looks like ROK and US Marines are getting some good winter training in which the Kim regime is not happy about:

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea: South Korean and US Marines are conducting military exercises on ski slopes in sub-freezing temperatures, including shirtless hand-to-hand combat in the snow, prompting warnings of retaliation from North Korea over “madcap mid-winter” drills.

More than 300 Marines are taking part, simulating combat on the ski slopes of Pyeongchang, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, amid speculation North Korea could be planning another missile test in defiance of U.N. resolutions.

“U.S. Marine Corps and ROK (Republic of Korea) Marine Corps partnered together at every level to build a camaraderie and friendship of the two countries’ militaries but also to increase our proficiency in the event where we have to fight a war together,” U.S. Captain Marcus Carlstrom told reporters.   [Channel News Asia]

You can read more at the link.

US Marines are busy doing what US Marines do:

South Korea and the United States are conducting joint military drills in the Yellow Sea.

South Korea’s Marine Corps said on Tuesday United States Marines based in Japan have been sent to take part in the ongoing drills, which began last month near South Korea’s northernmost Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong Islands.

About 200 U.S. marines belonging to the third Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa and 120 South Korean marines are taking part in the training exercise, named Korea Maritime Exercise Program.

The marines are practicing to defend against various scenarios of possible provocation by North Korea.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.