This may be signaling that the ROK may be interested in developing their own nuclear submarines in the future:
Adm. Yang Yong-mo (R), chief of naval operations, poses for a photo with Rear Adm. Thomas Buchanan (L), the commander of Submarine Group 10, which oversees Ohio-class submarines at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia on Feb. 2, 2024, in this photo provided by the South’s Navy on Feb. 4.
South Korea’s top naval officer visited a key naval submarine base in the United States for the first time and stressed the need to strengthen ties against growing North Korean threats, the South’s Navy said Sunday.
Adm. Yang Yong-mo, chief of naval operations, visited the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, a southeastern coastal base home to key nuclear submarines, on Friday (local time), according to the Navy.
It marks the first time for a South Korean Navy chief to visit the base, which operates nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), a key U.S. strategic asset. SSBN is a sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad that also includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers.
Soldiers’ cold season drill Members of the Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit do a warm-up exercise at the naval port of Jinhae in the southeastern city of Changwon on Jan. 18, 2024, as part of their “extremely cold weather drill.” (Yonhap)
This would be a great upgrade to the ROK Navy’s ballistic missile defenses by fielding the SM-6:
The U.S. Department of State has approved a possible sale to South Korea of Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) shipborne missile interceptors and related equipment to help improve the Asian ally’s security capabilities, a government agency said Tuesday.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) under the Department of Defense made the announcement on the potential government-to-government Foreign Military Sale estimated to cost US$650 million.
The South Korean government has made a request to buy up to 38 SM-6 Block I missiles, vertical launch system canisters, training aids and other related equipment, according to DSCA.
Just another example of increasing trilateral cooperation:
South Korea, the United States and Japan staged a trilateral maritime interdiction exercise in waters south of the Korean Peninsula this week for the first time in seven years, the South Korean Navy said Tuesday, amid efforts to strengthen security coordination against North Korean threats.
The two-day exercise, which began Monday in international waters southeast of the southern resort island of Jeju along with anti-piracy drills, came after the three countries’ defense chiefs agreed to resume the trilateral exercises during their meeting in Singapore in June.
The three sides last staged a maritime interdiction exercise, which focuses on intercepting suspected smuggling vessels, in 2016 and an anti-piracy exercise in 2017.
A South Korean Navy cruise training group, including 151 naval cadets, arrived at a port in Maryland on Monday, for a visit to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance between South Korea and the United States. ROKS Hansando (ATH-81), a training ship, and ROKS Hwacheon (AOE-59), a combat support ship, berthed at the Port of Baltimore — one of 14 destinations during the Navy’s annual 141-day cruise program that set sail on Aug. 28.
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.
The ROK has concluded that the North Koreans were trying to conduct a legitimate space launch with their rocket that crashed in the ocean back in May:
The salvaged wreckage of a North Korean space rocket is displayed on the deck of the ROKS Gwangyang at the Navy’s Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 16, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
South Korea has retrieved a North Korean spy satellite wreckage and concluded it has “no military utility,” Seoul’s military said Wednesday, ending a 36-day operation to salvage the sunken debris of a failed North Korean space rocket launch in late May.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that the military raised multiple key parts of the rocket and the satellite through the operation that began May 31 and ended earlier in the day.
South Korean and U.S. experts have conducted a detailed analysis of the wreckage and found that the salvaged satellite debris has no military utility, the JCS said.
The ROK Navy recently fielded new submarines that are large enough to house separate living areas for female sailors:
One of the United States’ closest military allies has selected its first group of enlisted women to serve aboard submarines starting next year.
Seven female noncommissioned officers were chosen from more than 20 applicants to undergo training for submarine service, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press release Monday.
Training is expected to last until January or February and is required for all submariners, a South Korean navy spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.
Two commissioned naval officers selected last month to serve on a submarine are also undergoing training, the spokesman added.
South Korea is expanding naval cooperation with Japan and Australia in an upcoming exercise in the waters off of Guam:
This file photo, released by the South Korean Navy on April 17, 2023, shows three Aegis-equipped destroyers — the South’s Yulgok Yi I (front), the Benfold (C) of the U.S. Navy and the JS Atago of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force — sailing in waters off South Korea’s east coast.
South Korea’s Navy said Sunday it will participate in a U.S.-led multinational maritime exercise in waters off Guam next month to enhance combined operational capabilities.
The Pacific Vanguard exercise is scheduled to take place from July 1-12, involving the naval forces from South Korea, the United States, Australia and Japan.
The Korean Navy will send the 4,400-ton Munmu the Great destroyer to the exercise.
