Category: ROK Military

Hopefully this doesn’t turn out to be a major safety issue with the ROK militaries Surion helicopters:

The South Korean military opened an investigation into the indigenously developed military helicopter Surion after some of the fleet had cracked windshields and other cracking problems, the defense procurement agency said Monday.

“Some of the (locally operational) 40 or so Surions have shown problems on their airframes,” Kim Si-cheol, spokesman at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said in a press briefing earlier in the day.

Currently, the DAPA is consulting the chopper’s producer, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. and other defense procurement bodies on how to resolve the issue, Kim said.

According to DAPA officials, the investigation has shown so far that four Surion choppers had cracks developed in the vibration absorption devices in the left part of their airframes and some other choppers had cracked windshields.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

This is the down side of free trade deals that Korean businesses are now experiencing which is competition with foreign brands to include in the tobacco industry:

Local tobacco-makers and farmers on Thursday questioned the Defense Ministry’s approval of foreign cigarettes on Korean military bases, saying it hurts national pride.

A welfare committee of the ministry approved the sale of foreign tobacco brands for the first time.

They include Marlboro Gold Original by U.S.-based Philip Morris, and Mevius LSS Wind Blue by Japanese maker JTI, according to Defense Ministry sources.

This will be the first time that foreign cigarettes are being sold at post exchange stores, effectively challenging the monopoly of KT&G. The move comes 10 years after the bidding process was opened up to foreign manufacturers in 2006.

The new brands approved by the ministry also includes Raison French Black and Bohem Cigar Slim Fit Brown by KT&G.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

It seems to me that the ROK Navy does have a point here because if these protesters were conducting illegal actions that caused cost overruns why should the Korean taxpayer be on the hook for this?:

The South Korean Navy is demanding damages from local groups and residents in Jeju Island for “taxpayer losses” incurred by their opposition to the construction of a new naval base.The groups targeted include the village association of Gangjeong in the city of Seogwipo.“On Mar. 28, we filed a suit with Seoul Central District Court for the exercise of indemnity rights for the Jeju multi-purpose port complex,” the Navy announced in a press release on Mar. 29.“The purpose of this exercise of indemnity rights is to hold those responsible accountable for losses in taxpayer money from among the additional costs of 27.5 billion won (US$23.8 million) incurred due to the [14-month] delay in the port’s construction period owing to illegal obstruction of operations,” it added.

The total compensation claim amounted to 3.4 billion won (US$2.9 million) of the additional costs, with the Gangjeong village association listed among the defendants alongside five groups and 117 residents and activities who took action to oppose the naval base construction.Last year, Samsung C&T demanded 36 billion won (US$31.2 million) in compensation from the Navy for delays in the construction schedule; a figure of 27.5 billion won (US$23.8 million) was finally settled on after mediation by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. Mediation is currently under way for Daelim Construction’s claim for 23 billion won (US$19.9 million) in compensation.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.

Just like in the United States, defense companies often collude with military officers to win contracts and sometimes not in an ethical manner.  What I found most interesting about this article is that the ROK developed liquid body armor that was bomb resistant which I have never heard of before:

Lobbying by a defense company resulted in it being granted general monopoly rights by the Ministry of National Defense on a body armor project worth up to 270 billion won (US$231 million) – even after the ministry had developed its own state-of-the-art body armor at a cost of 2.8 billion won (US$2.4 million).Samyang Chemical, parent group of Samyang Chemtec – which came under fire last year for its production of penetrable body armor – hired 29 reserve soldiers over six years to work as lobbyists for affiliates. Seven were found to be retired generals employed under false pretenses in defiance of ethics regulations against the employment of former senior officials.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read much more about this scandal at the link and the long and sometimes unethical ties to the military Samyang Chemical has.

https://twitter.com/staffordnetnz/status/712486979192037376

South Korea has set 2016 national budget at 386.7 trillion won, up 3 percent from 375.4 trillion won in 2015. The defense budget was increased by 4 percent to improve the country’s military readiness.  [Yonhap]

Male cadets raise their fists in a gesture of solidarity during a graduation ceremony at the Armed Forces Nursing Academy in the central city of Daejeon on Feb. 24, 2016. It marks the first time male cadets have graduated from the nursing school. (Yonhap)

Condolences to the friends and families of these ROK soldiers killed in this helicopter crash.  Judging by the below picture it looks like it crashed right outside the wall of the military base:

A South Korean military helicopter crashed in an eastern province on Monday, killing three of the four soldiers on board, officials said.

The helicopter went down in a farming field in the city of Chuncheon in the eastern province of Gangwon during a checkout flight, defense and army officials said.

The officials said that all four soldiers aboard the helicopter were initially rescued after the crash, but that three of them died while being treated in hospitals.

They said no casualties on the ground have been reported. The cause of the crash is under investigation.  [Washington Post via a reader tip]

You can read more at the link.

I never had the chance to see the K-2 cross a river before, but having this capability is needed in South Korea with its many deep rivers:

A South Korean K-2 “Black Panther” tank sports an unusual-looking piece of equipment in this YouTube video. The tank, crossing a 13 foot deep river during a military exercise, is using a so-called fording kit to allow it to drive across the river bottom.

Bridges are often destroyed in wartime, and the pace of operations may mean only a limited number of portable bridges may be available. The solution to a potentially deadly traffic bottleneck: unlike many military vehicles, tanks are usually waterproof and their tracks still work underwater-so why not drive them underwater?  (………….)

Modern fording kits typically consist of a single smokestack-like pipe that connects to the tank commander’s hatch. This allows the tank commander to sit at the top, where he can keep an eye on the tank’s progress. The stack also serves as an escape hatch for the crew in case of emergencies.  [Popular Mechanics]

You can read more at the link.

I am sure the ROK military has thoroughly thought through and rehearsed their plans in response to whatever the next provocation North Korea has planned:

Tensions are running high near the inter-Korean border Friday afternoon as South Korea’s military resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts toward North Korea in the demilitarized zone(DMZ).

To deal with possible North Korean attacks on South Korean speaker facilities, the South’s military has issued its highest level of vigilance at eleven areas at the forefront, where the psychological warfare facilities have been installed.

A defense official said Friday that the military will thoroughly carry out propaganda broadcast operations, and it will respond sternly and accordingly if the North’s military engages in artillery provocations against the loudspeakers or nearby areas.

In case the North attacks, the South’s military is said to be planning to retaliate with fire power that is three to four times stronger than the North’s.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.