Author: GIKorea

South Korea was pretty much forced to cut a deal with the Trump administration after the Japanese completed a deal just a week prior. They basically got the same trade deal as the Japanese:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration has agreed to lower “reciprocal” tariffs on South Korea to 15 percent from the proposed 25 percent in return for massive investments and market opening, and hold a summit with President Lee Jae Myung at the White House in two weeks.

Trump announced the deal with South Korea in a social media post, shortly after Seoul’s Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and other top negotiators met him in an effort to finalize an agreement before Friday, when the steep blanket tariffs are set to take effect unless a deal is reached.

“We have agreed to a Tariff for South Korea of 15%. America will not be charged a Tariff,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Under what he called a “full and complete” trade deal, Trump said South Korea will give the United States US$350 billion for investments “owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself.”

He claimed South Korea has agreed that it will be “completely” open to trade with the U.S., and that it will accept American products, including cars, trucks and agricultural goods.

The deal also includes South Korea’s agreement to purchase $100 billion of U.S. liquefied natural gas or other energy products, and invest a large sum of money for Seoul’s investment purposes, Trump said.

“This sum will be announced within the next two weeks when the President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, comes to the White House for a Bilateral Meeting,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Japan’s defense build up continues:

Japan will deploy its first F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters in the southern part of the country next month, part of efforts to bolster defenses in the Nansei Islands, according to the Ministry of Defense. Four of the short-takeoff, vertical-landing aircraft will arrive Aug. 7 at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, according to a schedule released Friday by the ministry.

The Nansei islands, also known as the Ryukyus, stretch from Kyushu to within 70 miles of Taiwan. They form a key link in the so-called first island chain, a strategic barrier for China’s navy in the event of a conflict. The F-35Bs will be flown from the United States by U.S. pilots, a spokesman with Japan’s Air Staff said by phone Monday, without providing additional details.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the basing of F-35’s in Kyushu along with the Type-12 missiles shows how Japan’s is fortifying its southern islands in preparation for any Chinese aggression in the region.

Here is an interesting article on how Chinese intelligence agencies are using organized crime groups in China to spy on U.S. military facilities in Palau:

Complicating that plan, however, is a Chinese-owned hotel overlooking Malakal Harbor that U.S. and Palauan officials worry could be used for surveillance.

Across Palau, Chinese businesses and developers have leased land near a half-dozen strategic locations where the United States is beefing up efforts to detect and deter China’s growing reach into the region, according to intelligence and security documents and interviews with 20 American, Palauan and Taiwanese officials.

A months-long Washington Post investigation found that Chinese businesses have leased land or built properties for tourism developments near the port, the airport, a U.S. coastal surveillance outpost and a U.S. “over the horizon” radar system. (Palauan law doesn’t allow foreigners to buy land, but they can lease it for up to 99 years.)

Washington Post

It’s a long read, but I recommend reading the rest at the link. If the Chinese are using organized crime groups to spy on Palau it makes me wonder where else are they doing this?

The arms race in Northeast Asia driven by deterring Chinese expansion continues:

Japan plans to deploy upgraded long-range missiles on its southernmost main island by spring as it continues to bolster defenses in the Nansei Islands, according to local media. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is finalizing arrangements to station an upgraded version of its Type-12 surface-to-ship missile at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu by March 31, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing unnamed government sources.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani confirmed Tuesday that the ministry intends to deploy the missiles this fiscal year but is still evaluating potential locations. “The Ministry of Defense intends to continue working to build standoff defense capabilities more quickly in light of the most severe and complex security environment since the end of the war,” Nakatani said at a regular press conference in Tokyo.

Japan faces mounting security concerns from China, which contests Japan’s claim to the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, along with North Korea’s advancing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Nakatani also cited Russia, which has participated in recent joint military training with China near Japan, in the ministry’s 2025 white paper.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

As Korea’s birthrate continues to remain low it will need to ensure every young person in Korea to include mixed race young men want to join the ROK military:

The quiet of an Army base in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, was shattered one spring afternoon when a 22-year-old private from a multicultural family jumped from a second-floor barracks window. Fellow soldiers had taunted him as a “fake Korean” — a slur that cut deeper than any drill sergeant’s shout. Although he survived, the fall left him with serious spinal injuries.

But his leap caused more than just physical trauma: It forced a reckoning with how South Korea’s military confronts questions of race, identity and a society in transition.

For nearly a decade, the Army has refrained from keeping formal records on recruits from multicultural backgrounds, arguing that identifying them could foster prejudice. But critics say the well-intentioned policy has had the opposite effect, leaving commanders without even a basic grasp of who is serving in their ranks — or what kinds of support those soldiers might require.

The Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) now estimates that there are around 4,400 soldiers from multicultural backgrounds in uniform and that this figure will double to around 10,000 by 2030 — roughly one in every 20 conscripts.

“These soldiers will become an essential part of Korea’s manpower pool as the birthrate plunges,” Hong Suk-ji, a senior research fellow at KIDA, said. “The military needs to move beyond piecemeal support and embrace true diversity management.”

The soldier at the center of the case, a private, was born to a Chinese father and a North Korean defector mother. Investigators were told that in the weeks leading up to his fall, he had endured repeated taunts, including a racist slur directed at people of Chinese descent and a derogatory term meaning “fake Korean.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is interesting that Kim Yo-jong is coming out and saying that relations between the U.S. and North Korean leaders is “not bad”. It makes me think there is likely much communication going on behind the scenes:

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Tuesday personal ties between the leaders of the North and the United States are “not bad,” while ruling out talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization.

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling party’s Central Committee, made the remarks as U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his intent to reengage with the North’s leader.

“I do not want to deny the fact that the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present U.S. president is not bad,” Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“However, if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the U.S. are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party,” she said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a great idea to help people learn more about the Battle of the Imjim when visiting the battle site:

British Korea War Memorial Committee co-chair Andrew Salmon talks about the Battle of Imjin River during a press conference at the British Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, July 25, 2025. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)

British expatriates commemorating the United Kingdom’s role in the Korean War have launched a video walking tour marking their country’s bloodiest battle since World War II. The Seoul-based nonprofit British Korea War Memorial Committee unveiled the video series, “Stand in the Bootprints of Heroes: Battle of Imjin River,” on Friday.

The series recounts how a British brigade held off the largest Chinese assault of the war, beginning April 22, 1951. Visitors to the battlefield in Paju, about 25 miles north of the capital, can scan QR codes on 11 signs to access English-language YouTube videos, which include Korean subtitles.

The $22,000 project was funded by private companies and Dulwich College, committee treasurer Daniel Fertig said during a press conference at the British Embassy in Seoul. The digital memorial is a passionate tribute for Korean War veterans and a way “to keep their stories alive,” British Ambassador to South Korea Colin Crooks told reporters.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but one of the people leading this effort is the author Andrew Salmon who wrote a great book about the Battle of the Imjim titled, To the Last Round which is worth reading. I also recommend reading my prior Heroes of the Korean War article about the commander of the Gloucestershire Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel James Carne who fought in the Battle of the Imjim.