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:
Marines watch a performance by K-pop band La Boum [Joel Lawrence/Al Jazeera]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]
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]
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:
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, raises her hands in victory May 26, as she approaches the finish line of the 12-mile ruck march at Camp Casey, South Korea. Jeong is the first female ROK officer to earn the U.S. Army Expert Infantryman Badge. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christopher Dennis, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.)
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.
President Park Geun-hye meets with a South Korean soldier serving in South Sudan on a U.N. peacekeeping mission in a ceremony held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 27, 2016 to boost their morale, in this photo provided by her office. (Yonhap)
I did not realize that serving in a research institute was a way to avoid mandatory military service. This does not seem like a fair alternative to mandatory military service compared to the guys that have to join the ROK military or National Police:
After announcing on Tuesday that military service exemptions for college students of natural sciences and engineering will not extend beyond 2023, the Ministry of National Defense has backpedaled from this decision. Initially, the ministry said that it expects that there will be a shortage of able-bodied Korean men to serve in the military from 2020 and that it will subsequently get rid of the current exemption measure.
The announcement has resulted in an immediate backlash from engineering and natural science students from Kaist, Seoul National University, Postech and other universities as well as from small- and medium-sized companies and agencies that count on the added talent of young men.
But Moon Sang-gyun, spokesman of the Defense Ministry, said in a briefing on Thursday that the plan to get rid of the current exemption measure was one that “has been in under constant review since the early 2000s.”
He added, “The plan is under review in related ministries and agencies, however there has been a misunderstanding that the measure is already confirmed, causing controversy beyond what is needed.”
Under the current exemption measure, individuals who are eligible to be drafted for two-year compulsory military service can instead serve out their term as a conscripted police officer, firefighter, in the coast guard or in another relevant agency, company or research institute. Graduate students in natural sciences or engineering at top schools are in especially high demand at research institutes and small- and medium-sized companies. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
The guy that was jumping around kicking people in the City Hunter drama is some how unfit for military service:
Actor Lee Min-ho has been exempted from active military service required of all able-bodied South Korean men because of his medical history, his talent agency said Thursday.
The 28-year-old will instead work in the public service for about two years, MYM Entertainment said, adding it has not been decided when he will start the service.
The decision was made because he has screws in a leg he broke in a car accident in 2009. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but I always have a lot of respect for the actors and other celebrities that complete their mandatory military service.
South Korea’s military is pushing to field some 100 additional units of the locally built K2 Black Panther tanks to strengthen frontline defense against North Korea, a military official said Thursday.
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) submitted the request citing the need for 100 or so more K2 tanks in October and the Ministry of National Defense is carrying out a verification of the demand,” the military official said.
K2 is the South Korean Army’s main battle tank (MBT) and has been produced since 2013. The tank developed in the country has been reaching frontline units starting in 2014, with a total of 206 K2 tanks having been deployed or are in the process of being delivered.
The additional production plan, if accepted, would push up the number of the South Korean military’s fleet to more than 300 tanks. The K2s augment the K1 battle tanks that are in widespread service among the country’s military. [Yonhap]
