Category: Japan

This is one of the larger groups of service members I have ever seen punished for criminal activity:

A sailor’s fatal fall in 2023 sparked a Navy probe that uncovered a drug distribution network aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and led to punishment for 58 sailors, according to service officials and heavily redacted court records. The investigation resulted in six courts-martial, 24 administrative separations and 28 cases of nonjudicial punishment, Navy officials said. Court records describe a network that used the U.S. Postal Service to ship hundreds of LSD tablets to Japan that were then distributed to sailors. The Navy acknowledged in 2023 that an unspecified number of Ronald Reagan sailors were under investigation, but the extent of that probe did not emerge until records became public and recent Navy responses.

Stars and Stripes

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It is great to see the continuing bilateral cooperation between the ROK and Japanese militaries:

The top defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan agreed Sunday to continue efforts to deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation, including in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Seoul’s defense ministry said. 

The two sides affirmed the shared commitment following talks between Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in Seoul, as the two sides seek to bolster defense cooperation amid improving bilateral ties. 

“The two ministers agreed to continue advancing exchanges and cooperation between the aerobatic teams of the two countries — South Korea’s Black Eagles and Japan’s Blue Impulse,” a joint press statement released after the talks said. 

“They also agreed to further develop search and rescue exercises for various maritime contingencies and to push for greater cooperation in advanced science and technology fields, including AI,” it added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.