Category: ROK Military

This is pretty bad and he wasn’t the only KATUSA to use the Camp Humphreys relocation to go AWOL:

A Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) soldier allegedly went absent without leave (AWOL) and spent the last five months of his service at his home, but the Korean military authorities were unaware of this until another soldier made an anonymous complaint, sources said Wednesday. 

The former KATUSA sergeant, who was stationed at the U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) in Yongsan, central Seoul, was to be relocated to USAG Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, early this year. However, he did not follow the relocation order. 

Currently, over 90 percent of U.S. forces and KATUSAs who were stationed in and around Seoul have moved to the recently expanded USAG Humphreys, according to a U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) official.

The deserter took advantage of lax personnel management at the time when soldiers were being continuously relocated to Humphreys in large numbers and only a small batch of KATUSAs were left behind at Yongsan.

“The suspect allegedly told Korean Army officers in Pyeongtaek that he was part of a handful of KATUSA and U.S. troops left working in Yongsan, but they did not cross-check this with officers stationed in Yongsan,” a source told The Korea Times.

The man allegedly stayed at home while he was AWOL.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but he wasn’t the only KATUSA to use the relocation to go AWOL. Other KATUSAs did so as well, but when one of them got caught he blew the whistle on the KATUSA that went AWOL for five months.

The Ministry of Science does not want to give up their free labor to the Ministry of Defense:

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of National Defense have come into conflict over the latter’s move to reduce the number of military duty exemptions for science and engineering majors by half.

While all able-bodied South Korean men must serve in the military for about two years as the two Koreas remain technically at war, those with master’s degrees or doctorates in natural sciences or engineering have been allowed to spend their military service working at R&D departments of state-designated research institutes.

The defense ministry is claiming that downsizing such special exemptions, which were introduced in 1973, is necessary to make up for the expected shortage in the number of active-duty personnel amid a constantly declining population. 

But the science ministry as well as universities, research institutes and students are arguing that the exemptions have effectively contributed to the development of the nation’s R&D sector and thus must be retained.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

A cut of 118,000 servicemembers is going to be quite a reduction in the size of the ROK military by 2022:

Concerns are being raised over possible regional economic crises in cities near the inter-Korean border as they are seeing a considerable population outflow with military units in the region having been or set to be withdrawn or unified in the near future. This is in line with the country’s overall Defense Reform 2.0 troop drawdown plan.

Under the five-year plan announced by President Moon Jae-in last July, the military is seeking to be smaller but “smarter” to counter the demographic cliff the country is facing. The combined number of troops in the ROK Armed Forces ― the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines ― is currently 618,000 but the government is planning to cut this by 118,000 by 2022. 

Out of the eight corps currently being operated by the Republic of Korea Army, two ― VI Corps in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province and VII Corps in Yangyang, Gangwon Province ― will be disbanded, while the number of Army divisions will also see a reduction from 39 to 33, according to military sources. 

Korea Times

You can read the rest at the link, but the governments of the cities near the DMZ are concerned about the loss of population from the troop cuts and how it will effect regional economies. The governments are planning to turn towards DMZ eco-tourism to fill the economic gap the cuts in troops is going to cause.

In a fight with North Korea this gun will probably see more action supporting ground troops than shooting down aircraft:

South Korea successfully developed a 30-mm wheel-type anti-aircraft gun system that has a longer range and better mobility than the previous model, the arms procurement agency said Wednesday.
Under the 55-billion won (US$46.58 million) project launched in June, 2015, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and Hanwha Defense Co. developed the anti-aircraft gun wheeled vehicle system, and final tests and evaluations proved that it met all the military requirements. 
As a system designed to ward off low-altitude attacks by enemy aircraft, the new weapon has an effective range of 3 kilometers, some 1.6 times longer than the 20mm Vulcan anti-aircraft guns, and its latest targeting systems allow it to have automatic tracking and self-targeting capabilities, according to the DAPA.
The adoption of the wheeled platform also enabled it to provide active mobile and localized support for troops, it added.

Yonhap

12-mile ruck march, part of basic military training, maybe no more for #SouthKorean military, which is cutting basic training to 5 weeks.https://t.co/H0gMRNV1Wn

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) May 13, 2019

I doubt the Kim regime is too concerned about fighting animal robots:

– South Korea will rev up efforts to develop military robots mimicking animals and other creatures to better brace for evolving future battlefields, the arms procurement agency said Sunday.
In its latest document that outlines blueprints for key defense technologies development, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) rolled out its plan to actively apply the so-called biomimetics to the military’s future weapons systems.
If it proceeds as planned, several kinds of biobots, which replicate humans and insects, are expected to be deployed as early as 2024, DAPA said, adding that robots mimicking birds, snakes and other marine species could be part of the country’s military forces afterwards.
“Biometric robots will be a game changer in future warfare, and related technologies are expected to bring about great ripple effects throughout the defense industry,” agency spokesman Park Jeong-eun said, adding that their roles will range from search and rescue operations to reconnaissance.

Yonhap

In my opinion virtual training is useful, but cannot replace actually firing real weapons and training in a real environment:

Technology plays an integral part in modern warfare, and its role is even more important for countries like South Korea, which faces constant threats from North Korea. 
In line with changing battlefield dynamics, the South Korean military has been pushing for ways to train soldiers in simulated environments using the latest technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
The Korea Military Academy has joined hands with local companies to develop VR and AR training programs for its Army cadets, which will be available on its Seoul campus later this year.
Experts say one of the key advantages of VR is the ability to immerse users in a virtual, yet safe, world, reducing costs and risks associated with battlefield training.
“Training soldiers using VR and AR content can save on the considerable budget for large-scale training and reduce risks from dangerous environments,” Kim Tae-kyu, a game professor at Kwangwoon University in Seoul, said. “It will be more beneficial when combined with real battlefield experiences.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The big upgrade for the Aegis destroyers is the ability to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. The Moon administration must have some doubts then that North Korea has peaceful intentions:

 South Korea on Tuesday approved plans to build next-generation Aegis-equipped destroyers and upgraded submarines to enhance the military’s operational capabilities, the arms procurement agency said. 
The Defense Project Promotion Committee passed the plans to construct the second batch of three destroyers, called Gwanggaeto the Great Ⅲ, by 2028 with a budget of around 3.9 trillion won (US$3.3 billion), according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
The new Aegis destroyers will be outfitted with an upgraded missile launch system which will allow them to intercept ballistic missiles. They will also represent a marked upgrade in detection and tracking abilities, the agency noted.
The committee also approved a plan to build the next-generation indigenous submarine, the Jangbogo Ⅲ.
The project calls for building three 3,450-ton submarines that will be equipped with ballistic missile launchers with its own technology, using a budget of 3.4 billion won by 2028, according to the DAPA.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

There will be some naval action going in the waters off of Busan this week:

A large-scale multinational maritime exercise will begin in the country’s southern port city of Busan this week.

The Navy said on Sunday that South Korea, the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other partner countries will kick off a combined maritime security exercise in Busan from Monday to Thursday and in Singapore from May 9th to 13th.

The exercise involves 18 member countries of the maritime security expert working group of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), a defense dialogue mechanism involving ASEAN and other countries, including the United States.

The Navy said 12 countries will send 16 warships and six aircraft for the exercise, while six other countries will send only military personnel.

KBS World Radio

I guess besides people becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses they can now eat their way out of their mandatory military service:

A man accused of putting on weight by eating fried chicken to avoid mandatory military service was acquitted of breaking the law on conscription, Incheon District Court said Sunday.

The 22-year-old college student reportedly underwent a physical examination for military service in August 2016. The test showed that the man, who weighed 106 kilograms and was 169.6 centimeters tall at the time, had Body Mass Index of 36.8. 

People with BMI of 33 and higher can be exempted from full-time military service and work as a public service worker. 

The prosecutors indicted the man for violating the military service law, arguing that he deliberately gained weight by eating fried chicken and drinking alcohol ahead of the physical exam to avoid the conscription. They also accused the man of stooping when getting his height measured so as to increase his BMI. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.