Gen. Jang Jun-gyu (R), the new Army Chief of Staff, receives a flag of the Army as a symbol of his authority to command from Defense Minister Han Min-koo during an inauguration ceremony at Gyeryongdae, South Korea’s main military compound in the city of Gyeryong, central South Korea, on Sept. 17, 2015. (Yonhap)
A terrible accident involving two ROK Army servicemembers recently happened in Daegu:
One Army sergeant was killed and two recruits were wounded Friday when a hand grenade exploded during a training session in this southern city, military officials said.
The accident took place at 11:13 a.m. at a drill camp of the South Korean Army in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, some 300 kilometers southeast of the capital city.
The explosion killed a 27-year-old instructor, Kim. He was rushed to a hospital but was later pronounced dead there at 12:53 p.m.
It also blew off the right hand of a 20-year-old recruit, surnamed Sohn, who was holding the grenade and injured 27-year-old recruit Park, who was waiting for his turn outside the trench, sources said.
The moment the military instructor ordered the trainee to “fling” his grenade, it went off, they added.
The military is investigating the exact cause of the explosion, including the possibility of defects or a mistake in handling the grenade. [Yonhap]
Female soldiers salute the national flag during a ceremony in Seoul on Sept. 4, 2015, to mark 65th anniversary of the establishment of South Korea’s Women’s Army Corps. After the ceremony, they took part in a seminar on how to instill gender equality into military culture. (Yonhap)
I did not realize the ROK military segregated their female servicemembers into their own Women’s Army Corps:
South Korea’s female troops have grown to nearly ten-thousand in number but gender discrimination continues to be a problem.
In a Friday seminar hosted by the Defense Ministry to discuss ways to realize gender equality in the barracks, Kangwon National University Professor Cho Seok-hee called for defusing gender discrimination against female soldiers.
Cho, who was discharged in 2011 after serving as the head of Women’s Army Corps School, cited disadvantages in the commission rate of women. She also said verbal abuse and remarks on one’s appearance still persist in the military.
She proposed scrapping the current guidelines on the use of female military personnel and creating a new department exclusively dealing with female troop personnel affairs and difficulties.
The Women’s Army Corps was founded on September 6, 1950 and celebrates its 65th anniversary on Sunday. The number of troops has grown to some 97-hundred as of July. [KBS World Radio]
A group of Army soldiers attends a ceremony in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, on Aug. 4, 2015, to have a patch of the Korean national flag, or Taegeukgi, attached to their uniforms. The Defense Ministry has instructed the Army to attach the flag to the uniforms of all military soldiers starting this month as part of efforts to raise their patriotism and mark the 70th anniversary on Aug. 15 of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonization. (Yonhap)
Hopefully these ROK soldiers legs are able to be saved:
Two soldiers were seriously wounded in what is believed to be a landmine explosion in the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, the military said Tuesday.
The explosion took place on the southern side of the DMZ in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, at 7:40 a.m. while the two Army staff sergeants carried out a search mission there, according to the military.
The explosion nearly severed the soldiers’ legs and they were rushed to a military hospital, the military said, adding that they are not in critical condition.
“There’s not the possibility of North Korea’s involvement,” a military official said. Possibly a landmine is the cause of the explosion, he noted. [Korea Times]
In recent years the mass shootings perpetuated by ROK Army personnel on their fellow soldiers has been widely documented to include the latest case where a soldier killed 5 of his comrades. The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty in that case. The killers usually blame bullying for the mass shootings. This has caused the ROK Army to do a lot of introspection in regards to the culture of bullying in the ranks. The recent media attention on mass shootings makes it appear as if this is something new. However, as I was browsing through the digital archives of the Stars & Stripes newspaper I noticed this article from June 3, 1968 that shows that mass shootings perpetuated by ROK Army soldiers is not something new:
This case is worse than the recent ROK Army cases because he attacked a crowded movie theater which killed 5 people and wounded 43. Then what is up with this guy’s girlfriend wanting to marry him before being executed? Especially when she was dating another man?
Anyway what I found most interesting about this was that all the way back in 1968 the ROK Army was talking about routine mental testing of recruits. The ROK Army is making the same efforts today though one former ROK Army soldier in his opinion says the tests are a joke. I think what this shows that is unfortunately hard to quantify too crazy to serve in the military with a test until people actually do something crazy. That was true back in 1968 and still true today.
It looks like South Korea’s F-16s are about to get some further upgrade work done:
The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $2.5 billion sale in F-16 upgrades to South Korea as part of Seoul’s effort to revamp its aging fighter fleet.
The sale, announced this week, would contribute to the security of both the U.S. and South Korea, which faces an ever-present threat of hostilities from North Korea, said the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
“This upgrade allows (South Korea) to protect and maintain critical airspace and provide a powerful defensive and offensive capability to preserve the security of the Korean peninsula and its vital national assets. (South Korea) will have no difficulty absorbing this additional equipment and support into its armed forces,” said a statement from the agency, which notified Congress of the possible sale on Tuesday.
The upgrades would include modular mission computers, radars, navigation systems and other equipment and logistical support, according to DSCA. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
https://twitter.com/SouthKoreaDaily/status/616671865315172352
Moon Jae-in (front), chief of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, takes part in a tire drag training exercise with South Korean soldiers at an airborne unit of the Army in Seoul on June 24, 2015, one day ahead of the 65th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. Moon completed his compulsory military service at the unit. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
