Category: ROK Military

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.

On the #blog: Learn about South #Korea's peacekeeping efforts around the globe – https://t.co/qsVWXAF37V pic.twitter.com/QmmYygM8kg

— KEI (@KoreaEconInst) August 1, 2016

The Patriot PAC-3 is designed to shootdown short range ballistic missiles not an intermediate range missile which the category the Musudan falls under.  That is what the THAAD system is for:

A medium-range ballistic missile launched Wednesday by North Korea flew at an average speed of Mach 11.3, or 11.3 times faster than the speed of sound, according to an analysis of a timeline seen on a monitor at the launch site.

The hypersonic speed of Mach 11.3 has sharply raised concerns about the capabilities of the Patriotic Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system that the South Korean military has purchased to upgrade its existing PAC-2 missile defense system. The PAC-3 flies at Mach 3.5 to 5 and intercepts incoming missiles at altitudes of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles).   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but a professor at the Korea National Defense University explains in the article that THAAD can shoot down the Musudan.  This is all the more reason why both Japan and the ROK should look at either purchasing their own THAAD system or deploying one into theater from the US.

Al Jazeera has recently published an article about their visit to a ROK Marine Corps base along the maritime border with North Korea.  The article has a few interesting facts to include that the ROK Marines has the second highest number of amphibious assault vehicles in the world:

Our next stop was a marine battalion operating amphibious landing vehicles known as KAAVs – Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicles – a variant of the American AAV7 and an asset essential for its core mission of landing on an enemy’s shore.

A KAAV can transport as many as 21 troops and run 480km on land, or stay in the sea up to seven hours.

South Korea’s Marine Corps has about 160 KAAVs in total, the second-largest contingent of such landing vehicles in the world after the United States.  [Al Jazeera]

You can read more at the link.

I am a bit surprised that it has taken this long for a North Korean defector to serve in the ROK military:

A North Korean defector recently completed his mandatory military service in South Korea, according to Korea Hana Foundation, a state-funded organization helping defectors, Thursday.

Kim Ji-hwan, 22, was discharged on Feb. 23 after serving two years as an Air Force sergeant in the 8th Fighter Wing in Wonju, Gangwon Province.

Kim is the first North Korean defector to have completed military service here, according to the Military Manpower Administration (MMA).

All able-bodied South Korean men aged between 19 and 37 are subject to compulsory military duty. But those who escaped from North Korea can legally refuse the draft under the Conscription Law, the MMA said.

Despite this, Kim applied for service in the Air Force. There are no other North Korean defectors serving in the military.

Kim fled to South Korea with his family in 2005. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Congratulations to First Lieutenant Ji Eun Jeong for being awarded the US Army’s Expert Infantryman Badge.  She is considered the first female ROK Army officer to receive the badge.  Two years ago two female ROK Army NCOs became the first Korean females to be awarded the EIB:

May 26, 2016 – CAMP CASEY, Republic of Korea – Soldiers congratulate Republic of Korea Army 1st Lt. Ji Eun Jeong, a platoon leader in the 115th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 90th Mech. Inf. Brigade, 30th Mech. Inf. Division, on earning an U.S. Army Expert Infantryman Badge. Jeong, a 25-year-old from Seoul, South Korea, is the first female ROK officer to complete the EIB. South Korean officers are not actually authorized to wear the U.S. badge, but were pinned during the ceremony and awarded a certificate of achievement. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Keith Anderson, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.)  [PACOM.mil]

Here are some statistics of how many failed to pass the testing:

Included in the final number to complete the challenge were more than 40 ROKA Soldiers, including Republic of Korea Army 1st Lt. Ji Eun Jeong, a platoon leader in the 115th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 90th Mech. Inf. Brigade, 30th Mech. Inf. Division. Jeong was the first female ROK officer to earn the EIB. A female ROK NCO completed the grueling challenge last year to earn her EIB.

“I want a specialty for infantry, and EIB is a challenge for female Soldiers,” said Jeong.

Of the 627 Soldiers who started the EIB testing in South Korea May 22, only 131 finished and earned the honor of wearing the Expert Infantryman Badge. And of those, 29 distinguished themselves as “True Blue” Infantryman by successfully completing every event without retest and receiving first time “go’s” on every evaluation – 18 U.S. and 11 South Korean Soldiers.  [DVIDS]

That is a pretty high attrition rate and thus shows how hard the awardees worked to get the EIB. According to the Korea Times 1st Lt. Jeong did 200 pushups, 200 sit-ups and ran 7 kilometers each day to prepare for the test.  She also qualified for the ROK Army’s version of the EIB in November 2015 which made her eligible to compete for the US Army’s EIB last month.  Incredibly the attrition rate for the ROK Army EIB is much higher than the US Army EIB:

Only infantry personnel are eligible to participate in both the EIB test and South Korea’s equivalent test.

The U.S. military officially opened the door for women on ground combat jobs beginning in January and there were no female participants from the U.S. side this year, according to the South Korean military.

In November 2015, Jeong was the only woman among the four successful candidates who took the South Korean infantry test. A total of 85 soldiers took the test then.  [Korea Times]

Only 4 of 85 passed the ROK Army EIB testing which is pretty amazing.  It sounds like the US Army get our infantrymen to compete in the ROK Army EIB testing for an additional skills challenge.

The ROK has decided that it needs to keep up with the Kims and develop their own SLBM technology:

The South Korean Military is developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), a high-ranking military official said.

“On the 3,000-ton Jangbogo-III submarine, which is currently under production, we are installing a vertical launching pad,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. SLBMs are fired undersea and are therefore difficult to detect by radar. He added, “The installation of a vertical launching pad indicates that the SLBM is already under development.” The official also went on to say that the SLBM is being developed under the aegis of the Agency of Defense Development and is expected to be completed by 2020.

The South Korean Navy’s arsenal currently includes the submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM). However, as North Korea’s endeavor to develop SLBM technology has almost reached completion, the need within the South Korean military to initiate a response has become urgent.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I would think this is another military development by the ROK caused by North Korea that China cannot be too happy about considering its potential implications to deter aggressive behavior by the Chinese regime as well.