Category: ROK Military

Soldiers take a look at an self-heating lunch box at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul on April 28, 2015, as they attend a public hearing on the innovation of combat food. (Yonhap)

These are very small amounts of money to be taking to be worth putting an entire military career at risk which leads me to believe that he has probably been doing this for a very long time and saw others doing it as well:

An Army brigadier general was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of taking bribes in exchange for paying favors to his friends’ sons serving mandatory military duty, the defense ministry said.

The general, who currently serves as a vice commander of the country’s Army Corps, allegedly received some 13 million won ($11,989) from five of his friends between 2012 and 2014, who asked him to change their sons’ assignments at the barracks.

“While the general, surnamed Kim, had been trying to peddle his influence, only one of the five was able to be transferred to another position,” a defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

S Korea added $8 billion to defense budget for growing #NorthKorea nuclear threats http://t.co/MsIYhnHzI4 pic.twitter.com/U8w073yPJI

— The Korea Times (@koreatimes) April 20, 2015

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Shirtless South Korean soldiers conducted an exercise in heavy snow in Pyeongchang, about 180km east of Seoul, in temperatures below -20°C.

More than 150 Chunma Special Force Army members stripped off their shirts and shouted army slogans during a physical strength training exercise.  [International Business Times]

You can read and see more pictures at the link, but this picture is just asking for a caption contest.

The US may want an interoperable BMD architecture with the ROK, but they continue to maintain they are going to develop their own BMD system:

 

Building an interoperable missile defense system is a key focus the United States places on trilateral cooperation with its two key Asian allies, South Korea and Japan, a senior American diplomat said.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Anita Friedt made the remark at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo earlier Friday, echoing what Assistant Secretary Frank Rose said during a recent trip to Seoul, according to the State Department.

“With regards to trilateral cooperation among the United States, Japan, and the ROK … Developing an interoperable regional missile defense architecture is an important future area of focus in light of the increasing nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea,” she said.

“We believe that future trilateral cooperation between the United States, the ROK, and Japan can positively impact our deterrence efforts against North Korean aggression and send a powerful message of deterrence to the DPRK (North Korea),” she added.

The U.S. wants to build a regional missile defense with South Korea and Japan in a move that critics say is aimed not only at countering North Korean threats, but also keeping China in check. Seoul has said it will build its own Korean Air and Missile Defense System (KAMD) in a way that is interoperable with the U.S. system.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the ROK is trying to take the middle road on this to balance their relationship with China and the US.  China doesn’t want an interoperable architecture so the ROK has maintained they will build their own missile defense system.  However, as the article states the ROK’s KAMD system can be developed to be interoperable with the US if needed.

This is not good for the ROK Navy:

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted former Navy Chief of Staff Jung Ok-keun over accusations that he took 770 million won ($700,000) in bribes from a local shipbuilding conglomerate when he held the position in 2008.

The 63-year-old was arrested late last month on suspicions that he received kickbacks from two subsidiaries under the now financially crippled STX Corporation through a yachting company, whose majority stakeholder was his 38-year-old son.

Jung’s son was detained a day earlier on charges that he allegedly pocketed money from STX Offshore and Shipbuilding and STX Engine by recording them as sponsors for his yachting event, which was organized in Busan to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Navy’s establishment.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has since been narrowing its investigation into whether Jung could have benefited from his eldest son’s business dealings.

Jung’s son and his business partner at the time, a former Navy colonel surnamed Yoo, were also indicted on Tuesday for contributing to the bribery, as was a former Navy operations commander surnamed Yoon, who is the non-executive director of STX.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but it makes you wonder how many other people have been getting these huge bribes?

South Korean and Thai Marines hold a joint search drill as part of the Cobra Gold 2015 at a Thai Marine training center in Thailand on Feb. 11, 2015. (Photo courtesy of Marine Corps) (Yonhap)

It appears that Airbus is about to try and enter the Korean defense market:

South Korea’s top carrier airline Korean Air Lines Co. (Korean Air) is poised to participate in a bid for South Korea’s fighter jet development program in association with Europe’s Airbus. Under the development program, code-named KF-X, South Korea will develop and produce about 120 fighter jets to replace its old models.

An informed official told several Korean media outlets, including Segye Ilbo, that Korean Air and Airbus reached a verbal agreement earlier this week to jointly bid for the development project.

The official’s comment was given anonymously, but it immediately brought media attention as the news is expected to open a new chapter for the government’s development plan. So far, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has been considered the strongest candidate for winning this project.  [The Diplomat]

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if this death sentence is actually ever carried out:

A South Korean soldier who shot dead five of his colleagues and injured seven others has been sentenced to death by a military court.

The sergeant opened fire in June 2014 at his post near the North Korean border and fled, sparking a manhunt.

He was captured two days later after he shot himself during a tense stand-off with troops.

It reignited debate on military culture in South Korea, where all males must do about two years military service.

The conscript’s attack had previously been attributed by a defence ministry spokesman to his “difficulties in adapting to military life”.

He had been placed on a list of conscripts requiring special attention.

In July last year, the military completed its investigation into the incident and said the attack, at a post near the border town of Goseong, was in revenge for bullying in the army and at school.  [BBC via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but no one on death row in South Korea has been executed since 1997.