Here is an article that explains a challenge that all male Korean college students have to deal with, when to do your mandatory service:
A batch of new military recruits salute their family members on Jan. 16 in Incheon before entering training camp. [YONHAP]Mr. Oh, a 24-year-old college student, wanted to serve his mandatory military service sometime between January and March of 2013. Aware that he would have to return to school upon his completion of duty, he wanted to hit the books straight away, making no time for staying idle.
In Korea’s current draft system, Oh needed to be wise about which month he starts and ends his service. In the best-case scenario, he could return to school right after getting discharged from the military. In the worst-case scenario, he would have to wait for an entire semester.
In the end, it didn’t work out for Oh. The competition was high. Way too many men had the same thoughts as him and the lucky-draw didn’t play out to his advantage.
Oh eventually began in June 2013, one of the least-expected – and most unpopular – month of the entire year.
He was discharged in March 2015, after the spring semester began. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of why I have a lot of respect for the Koreans that complete their mandatory military service.
The Korean navy’s P-3CK on patrol. / Courtesy of Twitter
A Korean navy’s P-3CK, a maritime patrol aircraft, accidentally dropped weapons into the East Sea on Sunday.
The accident happened around 6:10 a.m. during a patrol off the coast of Yangyang county, Gangwon Province, when a co-pilot accidentally pressed the emergency weapons release switch.
“One of the plane’s crew mistakenly touched the emergency weapons release switch instead of a buoy that detects submarine sound waves,” said a navy official. “The weapons were not armed and did not explode.”
The missing weapons include two harpoon missiles, two torpedoes and two depth charges and are worth about 4 billion won ($3.3 million).
The navy has sent a mine sweeper and salvage ship to salvage the weapons if possible. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I am surprised it is that easy to drop live missiles by pressing the wrong switch like this. You would think there would be some kind of safety mechanism over the switch.
Fortunately no one was killed by whatever caused this explosion in Ulsan:
This photo taken on Dec. 13, 2016, shows a military base in Ulsan, some 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where an explosion took place at around noon. Authorities are investigating the details of the incident. (Yonhap)
An explosion at a military base in South Korea’s southeastern city Tuesday injured more than 20 soldiers, authorities said.
The blast of unknown cause took place at around 11:50 a.m. at a training camp for reservists in Ulsan, some 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the authorities.
The injured soldiers, some of whom were burned, were taken to nearby hospitals. No casualties were reported.
No training took place at the time of the incident, according to authorities. All the injured were soldiers on active duty, mostly in their early 20s. [Yonhap]
I would think the last thing the North Koreans would want to do is create a provocation that would distract attention away from their great enemy Park Geun-hye being impeached and removed from office:
South Korea’s defense chief called on the military Thursday to remain vigilant as North Korea might carry out a provocation amid the ongoing political crisis involving President Park Geun-hye.
On Friday, 300 lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties are set to vote on an impeachment bill against Park. The country has been engulfed by a massive corruption scandal involving Park and her close confidante since late October.
Defense Minister Han Min-koo made the comments during his visit to the 3rd Army headquarters, one of the country’s three field armies in charge of protecting Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul from any military threats by North Korea. [Yonhap]
This photo from LIG Nex1 on Dec. 2, 2016, shows the “Hyungung,” a man-portable anti-tank system that has gone into production. The company said it signed a 32.7 billion-won (US$27.9 million) deal with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration a day before for initial production of the guided rocket system. (Yonhap)
This is a big change for the ROK Army with the merging of FROKA and TROKA into one ground command that will lead to a large reduction in leadership positions, but more responsibility for the ROK Army:
Official preparations are underway by the Ministry of National Defense to launch a Ground Operations Command, which will be central to the transfer of wartime operational control of troops and in defense reforms.
The Defense Ministry completed building facilities for the command within the Third ROK Army in Yongin, Gyeonggi, in October, a military source told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.
Starting from November, a temporary ground operations command was formed.
In an attempt to reform the military’s structure, the government merged the 1st and 3rd Armies to create the Ground Operations Command to lead frontline units in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula and will also function as the Ground Component Command.
The Defense Ministry did not announce the launching of a Ground Operations Command in its defense reform guideline for 2014 to 2030 released in 2014, leading to questions of how serious the ministry was about the plan.
Through the launching of the new command, the 1st and 3rd Armies will naturally dissolve. Thus, overlapping positions of the two armies are expected to disappear, which could mean as many as 10 general positions may be cut. Likewise, overlapping executive and commissioned officer positions are expected to decrease.
Once the Defense Ministry makes an operation plan for the command, it is expected to be tested out in the Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercise in August 2018. (……..)
The Ground Operations Command is expected to be transferred the tasks of the Ground Component Command (GCC) as well. The GCC is charged with commanding ground operations of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces during an emergency on the Korean Peninsula and carrying out wartime operational control.
The GCC is currently helmed by the deputy commander of ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC). After the Ground Operations Command is launched, the deputy commander of ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command can focus on the role of supporting the CFC commander.
U.S. and Korean army officials will revise the combined operation plans so that the new command will be able to take on the tasks of the GCC. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
His jail sentence was suspended which means his plan to dodge mandatory service did in fact work:
A man has been given a jail term for having his body covered with tattoos to avoid mandatory military service.
Under the conscription law, men with “excessive” tattoos on their bodies are immune from duty for fear that they could upset other soldiers.
The man, 20, was sentenced to one year in prison with the term suspended for two years, the court in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, revealed Monday. [Korea Times]
