Category: ROK Military

Radars are extremely hi-tech and complicated pieces of equipment that require maintenance and some ROK politicians are using maintenance outages to criticize the ROK military:

The country’s two Green Pine antiballistic radar units, which play a key role in detecting North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, have malfunctioned 21 times in the past three years, according to a military report that was submitted to Rep. Lee Chul-gyu of the ruling Saenuri Party and exclusively acquired by the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday.

Considering that the military operates one radar unit at a time biweekly and it takes two hours to turn on the other radar when one breaks down, 21 malfunctions means the South went 42 hours with neither radar working.

The Air Force acknowledged the malfunctions as well as the gap of 42 hours, but said there wasn’t a single time that both units were simultaneously broken.

The military said that the radars stopped working mainly when droplets of water formed inside the machine due to a temperature difference with the outside layer, which paralyzed the system’s transmission output.

According to Lee, the military has recently decided to spend an extra 13 billion won to build a dome that would cover the radars, decreasing the temperature difference to prevent future malfunctioning.

“I can’t help but doubt the military’s professionalism,” said Lee. “How could they pay 200 billion won for each radar and not have prevented dew forming?”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

South Korea is planning on developing a laser system to counter North Korea’s drone program:

South Korea will develop or purchase a new laser air defense weapon to bring down small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sent by North Korea, military officials said Wednesday.

“Amid growing worries about possible terror attacks by North Korea’s unmanned drones, we are planning to secure a high-precision weapon which can detect, trace and hit a small aircraft,” a defense official told Yonhap News Agency.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has entered into a project to develop core technologies for a laser weapon. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has designated Hanwha Defense Systems as test product developer, according to the agencies.

“Depending on research and development (R&D) results, it will be determined whether the country can produce and deploy its own air defense system,” said an ADD official. “If not, the military plans to import a foreign air-defense system to counter North Korean unmanned aircraft.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to all the friends and family members impacted by this training accident:

South Korea’s Navy said Tuesday that it had found the body of one of three crew members who were aboard a chopper that crashed into the sea off the country’s east coast a day earlier.

At around 6 p.m., the Navy found the body some 1,030 meters under the sea during its search operation that used a remotely operated underwater vehicle.

The body was confirmed to be the Lynx antisubmarine helicopter’s main pilot, identified only by his surname Kim. Along with Kim, a secondary pilot and a naval non-commissioned officer were aboard the crashed aircraft.

“Lieutenant Kim’s body was found just outside the helicopter, and we are trying now to find the rest of the missing crew,” a Navy official said, declining to be named.

The Navy also said it retrieved parts of the helicopter.

The helicopter sent out a distress signal and disappeared from radar eight minutes after it took off from an Aegis destroyer at 8:57 p.m. for a joint military drill between the South Korean and U.S. navies, a spokesman said in a briefing.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It appears the ROK has put a lot of thought into killing Kim Jong-un if war was to break out:

South Korea’s defense ministry is planning a special force that could remove Kim Jong Un from power.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo also said Seoul needs to maintain the number of full-time troops at 500,000 or more if it is to resist an armed North Korean invasion, South Korean news network YTN reported Wednesday.

Han told lawmakers at South Korea’s National Assembly there is “a plan” to assemble a unit that could target the North Korean leadership, referring to a plan known as the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, or KMPR, local news service News 1 reported.

“If it becomes clear the enemy intends to use nuclear-tipped missiles, in order to suppress its aims, the concept [of the special forces] is to retaliate against key areas that include the North Korean leadership,” Han said Wednesday.

KMPR is part of a “three-axis system” in South Korea’s military that includes Seoul’s homegrown anti-missile systems, the Korean Air and Missile Defense, or KAMD, and Kill Chain, a pre-emptive strike system.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

This undated photo, released by The Associated Press, shows the radar-evading F-35A fighter ready to take off at a U.S. air base. South Korea is considering procuring 20 additional F-35A fighters to enhance its wartime strike capabilities, military officials said on Sept. 12, 2016, amid escalating nuclear threats posed by North Korea. (Yonhap)

At least one ROK lawmaker wants to get really serious about preventing ROK military corruption:

– A lawmaker from the ruling Saenuri Party proposed a new bill on Thursday to classify military-related corruption as a form of aiding and abetting the enemy, paving the way for courts to hand out stricter punishment including the death penalty.

Under South Korean law, any action benefiting the enemy can land a person in jail for at least five years, with more serious offences leading to capital punishment.

“Irregularities in the military have an adverse impact on national defense that leads directly to the safety of the people,” Rep. Sin Sang-jin said, adding the existing system cannot sufficiently root out military-related corruption due to ineffective punishment.  [Yonhap]

As North Korea continues to develop its Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) capability South Korea is definitely going to need to acquire this technology in response:

The South Korean military may buy four cutting-edge antisubmarine patrol aircraft in the wake of the successful test-firing of a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) by North Korea last week, a senior government official told the JoongAng Ilbo Tuesday.

The advanced maritime surveillance aircraft being considered by the military is a Boeing P-8 Poseidon, which costs between 250 billion and 300 billion won ($223 – 268 million) per jet. The U.S. Navy has such aircraft, as do the Indian and Australian navies.

“North Korea is preparing a number of strategic ways to attack the South using its submarine fleet on top of the SLBM development,” said the official, “We are discussing whether to purchase the latest maritime patrol aircraft to detect North Korean submarines to prevent surprise attacks from under water.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

In response to the recent North Korean Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) test, some are advocating for the ROK to develop nuclear powered submarines:

The need for South Korea to possess a nuclear-powered submarine is increasing as the country moves to counter North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) threat, military experts here said Friday.

They are emphasizing the necessity for Seoul to acquire a submarine with far greater endurance than conventional diesel-electric counterparts after North Korea test-fired an SLBM that flew about 500 kilometers earlier this week. This provocation, which is viewed as a “successful” launch, has fueled concerns about technical improvements in the reclusive country’s missile programs that can threaten global security.

Once a submarine goes underwater, it is hard to track. This makes it very difficult to determine when an SLBM will be launched, which can hinder a timely and effective response.

Many observers have said the best way to counter SLBM threats is to pre-emptively attack the missile-armed submarine in the event of an emergency situation.

If an SLBM is capable of carrying a small nuclear warhead, it can pose a formidable threat, as the North would be able to hit targets theoretically from anywhere with little warning, experts said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but I think the ROK should consider developing nuclear submarines as well as their own advanced SLBM technology to not only put pressure on North Korea, but China as well.  Anti-submarine warfare is something that the Chinese are far behind in and a neighboring country developing their own advanced submarine technology will only further expose this Chinese weakness.  This would put further pressure on China to stop North Korea’s constant provocations against the ROK.

More bad media attention for the ROK military:

A medical non-commissioned officer surnamed Lee, 24, was arrested for allegedly stabbing a female officer while drunk. The event occurred on Aug. 5, after he got into a quarrel with his colleagues.

“The victim got neural damages in her thigh due to the incident,” said an official from the Armed Forces Medical Command on Friday. “She is currently being treated in a private hospital.”

Around 10 officers from the Korean Armed Forces Hongcheon Hospital in Hongcheon County, Gangwon, gathered on Aug. 5 for dinner and drinks. The conflict began when Lee was reprimanded for his rudeness by another non-commissioned officer with a lower rank, according to police.

“It seems like Lee felt disrespected that someone with a lower rank scolded him,” said a military official.

After dinner, the party moved on to a noraebang (karaoke room). Lee, who had left for home around midnight, also showed up, holding a knife, police later said. Lee brandished his knife and moved toward the non-commissioned officer he had quarreled with, the report noted, who then ran away with wounds to his stomach.

Police also said the female officer, running into Lee on her way back from the washroom, was stabbed in several places including her thigh.

The chaos was concluded when a civilian military worker inside the noraebang venue subdued Lee. Police arrested Lee for bodily harm and handed him over to the military police.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to the families of these ROK sailors killed this week in what appears to be a horrible accident:

Three South Korean sailors were killed and another seriously injured in an apparent gas explosion Tuesday at a southeastern naval base, military officials said.

The blast occurred about 8:30 a.m. when the men were trying to open the hatch of a midget submarine undergoing repairs at South Korea’s Jinhae naval base, the officials said. The force of the blast tossed one of the sailors into the water.

Military authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion, but it appears to have been an accumulation of gas in the hull, the officials said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.