Author: GIKorea

The world of the Terminator franchise is drawing near. What happens when these robots are equipped with AI technology as well?:

At the World Humanoid Robot Games in China last month, robots jumped, boxed and danced. Some fleet-footed bots ran faster than Usain Bolt over 100 meters. Spectators cheered the machines’ improving capabilities and their meme-worthy stumbles.

Two days after the Games ended, the People’s Liberation Army’s official newspaper drew its own conclusions from the show. The PLA Daily called for researchers to accelerate the transfer of cutting-edge technologies from laboratories to military training grounds for robotic “combatants.”

China’s defense establishment is accelerating research into humanoids’ military uses and planning ‌for their eventual wartime deployment, according to a Reuters review of more than 100 Chinese military procurement notices, academic studies, patents, official publications, government records and defense-company materials.

Military institutions are testing humanoids against battlefield requirements, seeking to acquire robots and technologies to train them, and studying how they might function ‌alongside troops, the previously unreported records show. The work gained momentum in 2025 and 2026, focusing on robot perception, manipulation, and training data.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

Here is an opinion piece in the Korea Times on what the ROK should do with the issue of deploying troops to reopen the Strait of Hormuz:

Korea faces a dilemma over whether to deploy military assets to the Strait of Hormuz. The alliance with the United States is too important for Seoul to simply disregard Washington’s request for a military contribution. At the same time, dispatching a warship would carry serious consequences. Such a deployment could be interpreted as Korea joining U.S. military action against Iran, unnecessarily turning Tehran into an adversary.

The multinational maritime mission being developed by the United Kingdom and France deserves close attention. Early reports indicated that roughly 15 countries were involved in operational planning, while a considerably larger number later joined diplomatic consultations and expressed political support. Korea has also endorsed an international statement calling for freedom of navigation in the Strait and has discussed possible contributions with the United States, Britain and France. Seoul’s choice, therefore, need not be reduced to a simple question of accepting or rejecting a U.S. request.

The most important feature of the U.K.-France initiative is its stated effort to distinguish itself from U.S. military operations against Iran. Its purpose is not to attack or retaliate against Iran, but to ensure the safe passage of civilian vessels and remove mines and other threats to navigation. The proposed mission would focus on defensive activities such as merchant-vessel escorts, mine clearance and maritime and aerial surveillance. It is also intended to begin only after a ceasefire, consent by the relevant parties and other conditions necessary for a sufficiently permissive operational environment are in place.

That distinction is crucial for Korea. Sending a Korean warship to support U.S. operations against Iran would carry a fundamentally different political and military meaning from joining a multinational effort to restore an international sea lane. The former would expose Seoul to accusations that it had effectively become a party to America’s war. The latter could be justified as international cooperation to protect a global public good vital to the world economy.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the waiting for a ceasefire sounds like a way to avoid doing the deployment. We already had a ceasefire and the international community had over a month to do something and instead did nothing before the Iranians decided to violate the ceasefire. There is likely going to no longer be any more ceasefires since the Iranian regime already violated one. The Trump administration now seems firmly committed to the slow economic strangulation of the regime which means no ceasefires.

If Korea wants to do something that is low risk to their troops, but still beneficial to their position in the Middle East, I propose they send anti-drone and cruise missile defense units to help defend the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has been a long-term economic and defense partners with South Korea. The Lee administration can frame the deployment as assisting the UAE and protecting ROK economic interests and not joining the US war against Iran. Additionally, this would showcase ROK military technology and provide valuable real-world experience against the same hybrid threats North Korea would use during a crisis on the peninsula.

I guess we will see if President Lee has the political courage for such a deployment, or rather, just be like the rest of the world and hide from the Thugs of Tehran.

It took a bit longer than the Kim regime expected, but their new destroyer has finally been fielded:

North Korea has commissioned its new naval destroyer Kang Kon, state media said Monday, as the country pushes to modernize its naval assets and sharpen its combat readiness at sea with nuclear-capable vessels.

Leader Kim Jong-un attended the commissioning ceremony held a day earlier at the eastern port city of Wonsan, where he called the new 5,000-ton destroyer “essentially an offensive destroyer” and part of “the state nuclear counteraction system,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“The new-generation destroyer should deal a deadly retaliatory blow at the enemies as it is a force involved in the state nuclear counteraction system,” the KCNA reported Kim as saying.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Iran is making threats to attack South Korean assets in the Middle East when they have already attacked South Korean assets in the Middle East. Let’s also not forget the hostage taking of a South Korean ship and the attack the Iranians did on UAE while former President Moon was visiting in the past as well. Let’s also not forget when the Iranians torpedoed another South Korean tanker. The Thugs of Tehran have shown over the years they are no friends to Korea and it may be time for Korea to start fighting back against these thugs:

South Korea is closely communicating with relevant countries and the international community to help ensure the free passage of all vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, the foreign ministry said Monday.

The statement came after Iranian academic Mohammad Marandi warned that Tehran could regard Seoul as an enemy and target South Korean assets in the region if Seoul joins a U.S.-led effort to secure navigation through the strait, according to the London-based Middle East news website Middle East Eye.

“We are closely communicating with the international community, including relevant countries, to help restore peace and stability in the Middle East as soon as possible and to ensure the free passage of all vessels, including those of our country, through the Strait of Hormuz,” the ministry said in a release.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like USFK may soon get some serious additional combat capabilities:

U.S. Army Spc. Delilah Crenshaw of the 2nd Multi-Domain Effects Battalion ensures cables are securely connected to a GATR inflatable satellite antenna at a training site in northwest Poland, Aug. 30, 2023. (Ashley Morris/U.S. Army)

The U.S. Army reportedly plans to move hundreds of multidomain troops from Germany to South Korea within the year, although the Pentagon said Wednesday it had nothing to announce about the potential deployment. The 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force’s Multi-Domain Effects Battalion would join U.S. Forces Korea to strengthen capabilities against North Korea while bolstering deterrence against China, the Chosun Daily reported Wednesday. The newspaper did not identify the source of its information.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The only troops the ROK would likely send are for defensive purposes and yet the Iranians are making threats against them:

A senior Iranian official has warned Korea against deploying military assets to the Strait of Hormuz, saying any action against Iran would be considered direct participation in the war. 

“Any South Korean involvement against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz would amount to direct military participation in the aggression and war against Iran,” the unnamed senior political and security official was quoted as saying by Al Mayadeen, a Lebanon-based news network aligned with Iran and Hezbollah, on Friday. 

The official also urged Seoul not to “sacrifice its interests and reputation” by supporting U.S. military operations.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is amazing for how little money people will sell out their country for:

A South Korean man has been sentenced to five years in prison for spying for North Korea, officials said Saturday.

The 43-year-old man, whose identity was withheld, was found to have received an order from a North Korean agent via the messaging app Telegram in May-June of 2021 to collect information about anti-Pyongyang defectors from North Korea and their activities.

Around that time, the man took about 660 million won (US$479,346) worth of virtual currency from the North Korean agent as funds for operating cryptocurrency investments.

He later approached the head of a North Korean defector group, offering to sponsor the organization. He asked the leader to create a virtual currency wallet and forwarded its address to the North Korean agent.

After the agent transferred 1 million won worth of Bitcoin in the name of donation, the man received videos and photos showing the group sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets in return.

The man was also instructed by the agent to collect personal information of seven active-duty military officers, including their units and resident registration numbers, and attempt to recruit them for espionage.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.