Author: GIKorea

This is yet another attempt by the North Koreans to try and bait the ROK into canceling the Inter-Korean military agreement. They are going to continue these provocations until they get the reaction they want to justify conducting their long awaited nuclear test:

South and North Korea exchanged warning shots, Monday, accusing each other of border violations in the West Sea, in what is already a period of heightened tension. 

According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), a North Korean merchant ship invaded the Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 3:42 a.m. and the South Korean Navy responded with 20 warning messages and as many warning shots to repel the vessel.

However, nearly one hour after the North Korean ship retreated, the North’s military fired 10 artillery shells into the West Sea, claiming that a South Korean naval ship intruded into North Korean waters ― 2.5 kilometers to five kilometers ― with the excuse that South Korean authorities were cracking down on an unidentified ship when they made the alleged intrusion. (…..)

According to the South Korean JCS, it detected the North’s launch of 10 artillery shells, which started at around 5:14 a.m., in violation of the inter-Korean military agreement, signed in September 2018 to reduce border tensions. The JCS called it a provocation harming peace and stability not only on the peninsula but also in the international community.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think I have heard of a squadron commander getting fired this quickly:

The commander of the 8th Maintenance Group at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea has been fired after just four months on the job, a unit spokeswoman confirmed Saturday.

Air Force Col. Jay Bertsch was let go Oct. 11 and reassigned outside the unit due to a “loss of confidence” in his abilities, 8th Fighter Wing spokeswoman Capt. Paige Hankerson said in a statement emailed to Stars and Stripes. 

The Air Force Times was first to report on Bertsch’s removal on Friday.

“As a reflection of the importance of our mission and responsibility leaders bear to guide airmen, the Wolf Pack holds its leaders to a high standard,” Hankerson said, referring to the wing’s mascot. “Out of respect for the member and due to the legal process, no further information is to be provided at this time.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It takes many years of development and testing to field a missile defense system this is why THAAD as well as the Patriot batteries in South Korea remain so important to the defense of Korea:

South Korea’s Army said Thursday it is pushing to acquire an advanced interception system to defend against evolving missile and artillery threats from North Korea.

It unveiled the plan for the acquisition of the low altitude missile defense-II (LAMD-II) system that is intended to shoot down North Korea’s new ballistic missiles, such as the KN-23 and the KN-24, and its super-large artillery rockets in a report for an annual parliamentary audit.

LAMD-II will be an improved version of the LAMD system that Seoul seeks to develop by 2029.

The Army added that it is also planning for the early development of the Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile-II (KTSSM-II) as part of efforts to bolster the military’s Kill Chain preemptive strike platform against the nuclear-armed North. It aims to develop the KTSSM-II by 2030, earlier than its initial target year of 2034.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Its official, Xi has pretty much made himself an emperor for life in China:

President Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader in decades, increased his dominance Sunday when he was named to another term as head of the ruling Communist Party in a break with tradition and promoted allies who support his vision of tighter control over society and the struggling economy.

Xi, who took power in 2012, was awarded a third five-year term as general secretary, discarding a custom under which his predecessor left after 10 years. The 69-year-old leader is expected by some to try to stay in power for life.

The party also named a seven-member Standing Committee, its inner circle of power, dominated by Xi allies after Premier Li Keqiang, the No. 2 leader and an advocate of market-style reform and private enterprise, was dropped from the leadership Saturday. That was despite Li being a year younger than the party’s informal retirement age of 68.

“Power will be even more concentrated in the hands of Xi Jinping,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong Baptist University. The new appointees are “all loyal to Xi,” he said. “There is no counterweight or checks and balances in the system at all.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It was a nice fall day which in Korea means it is a perfect time to have a protest:

Tens of thousands of conservative and progressive activists staged large-scale rallies in downtown Seoul on Saturday, chanting opposing slogans about sensitive political issues. The demonstrations ended without clashes.

Right-wing activists, including members of the far-right Liberty Unification Party, held a rally in Gwanghwamun against what they call pro-North Korea sympathizers.

Police estimated about 32,000 activists participated in the event.

Progressive activists also held an anti-government protest on nearby streets, with police projecting about 16,000 people joined the rally.

The massive rallies caused severe traffic disruptions surrounding main roads spanning from Gwanghwamun to City Hall in central Seoul.

Both sides expressed contrasting voices about sensitive political issues throughout the rallies.

Conservative activists called for the formal arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over his alleged involvement in a corruption-laden urban development scandal.

Liberal activists, meanwhile, denounced the prosecution’s probe into Lee as “political revenge” and called on President Yoon Suk-yeol to step down.

Police initially stayed on alert to brace for possible clashes between the two sides near Samgakji, close to the presidential office in Yongsan, but there were no physical scuffles or violence.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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