Category: ROK Military

Good luck trying to get the ROK to reorient any of their defense strategy towards China. The ROK received large economic retaliation from China just for hosting a U.S. THAAD. Could you imagine the retaliation if the ROK started reorienting defenses such as long range strike missiles towards China?:

Many South Korean defense capabilities could contribute to deterring an assertive China, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday, stressing that the United States’ defense priorities should focus on addressing the “most serious” military threat of the Asian superpower.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for East Asia John Noh, the nominee for assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, made the remarks in his written answers to advance questions from the Senate Committee on Armed Services, asserting the need for South Korea and other allies to “dramatically” increase their defense spending and take greater responsibility for regional security.

“While the ROK should focus primarily on leading the U.S.-ROK alliance’s conventional deterrence against the DPRK, many capabilities could also contribute to a deterrence of China,” Noh said. ROK and DPRK stand for the respective official names of South Korea and North Korea, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Capabilities, such as long-range fires, integrated air and missile defense, space and electronic warfare capabilities, could provide a meaningful impact to strengthen deterrence in the region against both threats,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here will be the latest addition to the ROK military:

The South Korean military has chosen the U.S.-based defense firm L3Harris Technologies to supply surveillance aircraft in a $2.2 billion agreement Tuesday. The South Korean military expects delivery of the aircraft by 2032 and will employ them against “increasing aerial threats from North Korea and other regional countries,” according to a news release from the Seoul-based Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

An agency spokesman reached by phone Thursday declined to provide additional details on the agreement. The agreement revolves around four Bombardier Global 6500 jets modified with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, South Korean news outlets Yonhap News and Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The experts in this case are not wrong:

The short answer, analysts say, is no.

South Korea’s multi-layered air defense network, known as the Korea Air and Missile Defense, cannot fully protect the country from a large-scale missile or artillery barrage by North Korea. The system is designed to limit damage, not to guarantee safety.

Overall, an expert judged that if North Korea were to launch multiple types of weapons simultaneously, it would be difficult to block them all with this network alone.

“Even with a multi-layered defense in place, many experts, including myself, believe that the system on its own would struggle to withstand a mixed, simultaneous strike from North Korea,” said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

Experts also note that the proximity between the two Koreas, with Seoul 40 kilometers away from the Demilitarized Zone, leaves the South with very little reaction time if the North decides to strike. Long-range artillery could strike the capital in minutes, they say.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but the difference between Israel and North Korea is the long range artillery. Israel largely eliminated Hezbollah prior to the confrontation with Iran in order to limit the rocket attacks from Lebanon. During a conflict with North Korea, Seoul could be pummeled with artillery fire which would require an extensive number of C-RAM batteries to intercept which the ROK or the USFK does not have.

Another difference in a battle with North Korea is the volume of missiles fired. Iran due to its distance from Israel had limited number of launchers to fire longer range missiles. Due to how close South Korea is, North Korea can use short and medium range ballistic missile launchers to target South Korea. Both the ROK and USFK have missile defense units to defend against these threats, but the question becomes how many interceptors do they have compared to North Korea’s ballistic missile inventory?

It is interesting that the military’s unwillingness to comply with the martial law order is why President Lee came to power. Now he is replacing all the 4-star General’s across the ROK military:

The Defense Ministry on Monday announced seven new nominees, replacing all active four-star generals in the first top-level military reshuffle under the Lee Jae Myung administration.

The overhaul reflects President Lee’s push to reform military leadership. In July, he appointed Rep. Ahn Gyu-back of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea as defense minister — the first civilian to hold the post in 64 years.

The list includes new chiefs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the deputy commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command — all positions held by four-star generals. All of the nominees currently hold three-star ranks.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The ROK military is seeing an increasing surge in officers and NCOs seeking early retirement:

A record 2,502 South Korean military officers applied last year for early honorable discharge, a program that allows service members to leave the service before reaching mandatory retirement, according to data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to the National Assembly.

The exodus of experienced military personnel presents a significant challenge for the armed forces, which rely on a pool of long-serving officers to maintain operational readiness and leadership continuity. The trend not only raises concerns about a brain drain but also signals growing dissatisfaction among a key segment of the military’s professional ranks, potentially affecting morale and combat readiness amid persistent tensions with North Korea. (……)

Applications for early honorable discharge have risen sharply over the past five years. Annual applicant numbers were 1,176 in 2020, 1,241 in 2021, 1,743 in 2022, 2,364 in 2023 and 2,502 last year. Noncommissioned officer applications nearly tripled over the same period, rising from 609 in 2020 to 1,720 last year. As of August this year, 2,301 service members had applied, including 738 officers and 1,563 noncommissioned officers.

Korea Times

Here is the reasons why they are leaving the ROK military:

The Korea Institute for Defense Analyses surveyed 417 officers with at least five years of service and found that the main reasons for seeking early discharge included low pay relative to workload (22.5 percent), loss of job satisfaction from administrative duties (20.1 percent), feelings of relative deprivation due to rising pay for rank-and-file soldiers (10.6 percent) and family separation due to reassignment (9.6 percent).

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 pretty amazing that the former ROK Marine Corps commandant is being investigated for telling the National Assembly that former President Yoon did not go into a rage when hearing of the death of a Marine. However, a Marine investigator is claiming that the General told him that Yoon did go into a rage:

A Seoul court on Tuesday rejected an arrest warrant for former Marine Corps Commandant Kim Kye-hwan over allegations of giving false testimony in connection with a probe into the death of a young Marine in 2023.

The Seoul Central District Court said it rejected the warrant requested by a special counsel team investigating Kim, citing the lack of risk of flight or evidence tampering.

The retired three-star general is suspected of being involved in the alleged interference in the military probe of the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who died while searching for torrential rain victims in July 2023 without safety equipment, such as a life jacket.

The special counsel team has focused on allegations that former President Yoon Suk Yeol burst into a rage during a meeting of senior presidential officials in July 2023, after being briefed on the results of the probe that found a senior Marine commander responsible for Chae’s death.

Kim had consistently denied telling the top Marine investigator in charge of the initial probe of the episode about Yoon. During a court hearing earlier in the day, however, he acknowledged for the first time that he had heard about Yoon’s alleged outburst of anger.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

When the martial law decree happened I said it was foolish of Yoon to think that ROK Soldiers would want to be involved in anything that could devolve into a modern day Gwangju Uprising like event. That is exactly what happened as Soldiers went and ate ramen noodles at local convenience stores instead of following orders. Who would imagine that going to eat ramen noodles could lead to a promotion for them:

South Korean soldiers who refused to obey unlawful orders during former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law attempt last year could receive early promotions, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The military last week launched a closer look at the actions of soldiers on duty after Yoon’s short-lived martial law decree late Dec. 3 and early Dec. 4, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday at a news conference in Seoul.

Roughly 200 soldiers — many of them from special forces units — were deployed to the National Assembly building in the capital after Yoon’s edict that night. Some troops blocked the building’s entrance as lawmakers attempted to convene and vote to overturn Yoon’s order. Yoon, who faces trial on charges of insurrection and abuse of authority, has denied deploying troops to prevent lawmakers from reversing the martial law. His attorneys have said the troops were deployed as a precautionary measure and to instill order. Service members who are found to have “performed their duties as soldiers” without following “improper orders” could receive commendations, the spokesman said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The ROK Navy has added some new capabilities:

Six P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes Twere inaugurated into South Korea’s navy Thursday in hopes of better detecting sea-based threats in and around the Korean Peninsula. The twin-engine aircraft, delivered in June 2024, began flying for the South Korean navy Thursday, the service said in a news release the same day.

South Korean pilots, crew members and mechanics familiarized themselves with the aircraft for a year before reporting to the fleet for operations, according to the navy. South Korea’s military purchased six Poseidons from the United States for roughly $1.6 billion in 2018. The aircraft is meant to replace the South Korean navy’s aging fleet of P-3 Orions, which have been in service since 1995.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is a sign that attack helicopters as we know them are going obsolete:

The government’s plan to purchase 36 additional AH-64 Apache attack helicopters will likely be scrapped after a massive budget cut, a lawmaker noted Sunday.

According to Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the main opposition People Power Party and the defense ministry, the budget for the project was cut from an initial 10 billion won (US$7.3 million) to just 300 million won in the supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly on Friday. (…..)

Calling the decision a “positive development,” Yoo noted the U.S. Army is also moving away from the aged, high-maintenance Apaches in favor of advanced drone assets like the Gray Eagle to modernize its forces.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.