Category: ROK Military

The ROK Navy recently fielded new submarines that are large enough to house separate living areas for female sailors:

One of the United States’ closest military allies has selected its first group of enlisted women to serve aboard submarines starting next year.

Seven female noncommissioned officers were chosen from more than 20 applicants to undergo training for submarine service, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press release Monday.

Training is expected to last until January or February and is required for all submariners, a South Korean navy spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.

Two commissioned naval officers selected last month to serve on a submarine are also undergoing training, the spokesman added.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is an update on South Korea’s efforts to create a drone unit that can respond both offensively and defensively against North Korea:

South Korean military drones fly during joint drills with the United States at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, in this May 23 photo. The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday promulgated a decree for the launch of a multipurpose drone operations unit. AP-Yonhap

The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday promulgated a decree for the launch of a multipurpose drone operations unit as part of efforts to counter North Korea’s evolving air threats and to reinforce the capabilities that have become increasingly critical in modern warfare.

The declaration comes six months after President Yoon Suk Yeol told his military officials to create a command center for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strategies for both offensive and defensive missions.

The unit, which is expected to be established in September, will take direct orders from Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and take on reconnaissance, strike and other roles. Its presence in the military may well expand as its interoperability with other units improve, officials said.

But the location and leader of the unit have not been determined yet.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the city of Pocheon just north of Uijeongbu in Gyeongi province is one of the leading sites to base the new drone unit at.

South Korea is expanding naval cooperation with Japan and Australia in an upcoming exercise in the waters off of Guam:

This file photo, released by the South Korean Navy on April 17, 2023, shows three Aegis-equipped destroyers — the South’s Yulgok Yi I (front), the Benfold (C) of the U.S. Navy and the JS Atago of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force — sailing in waters off South Korea’s east coast.

 South Korea’s Navy said Sunday it will participate in a U.S.-led multinational maritime exercise in waters off Guam next month to enhance combined operational capabilities. 

The Pacific Vanguard exercise is scheduled to take place from July 1-12, involving the naval forces from South Korea, the United States, Australia and Japan. 

The Korean Navy will send the 4,400-ton Munmu the Great destroyer to the exercise.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Russians and Chinese are showing they are unhappy with trilateral security cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and ROK:

Four Chinese and four Russian military planes entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) without notice Tuesday, Seoul’s military said, prompting the South Korean Air Force to send its fighter jets to the scene.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that between 11:52 a.m. and 1:49 p.m., the Chinese and Russian aircraft entered the southern and eastern parts of the KADIZ, respectively, and exited it. They did not violate South Korea’s air space, it added.

“Our military identified the Chinese and Russian planes before their entry into the KADIZ and deployed Air Force fighters to conduct tactical steps in preparation against potential accidental situations,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

You would think the landing gear would be a bit more robust to withstand a bird strike:

A collision with an eagle caused a South Korean F-35A Lightning II fighter to crash last year, and talks are underway with the manufacturer over scrapping or repairing the stealth aircraft, the South Korean air force said Tuesday. 

An investigation determined the bird struck the F-35A’s landing gear, which failed, forcing the pilot to make an emergency belly landing Jan. 4, 2022, at a South Korean air force base in Seosan, about 50 miles southwest of Seoul, according to an air force email Tuesday. 

The pilot exited the plane without serious injuries, according to the air force.

South Korea’s air force and Lockheed Martin, the F-35 manufacturer, assessed the damaged aircraft to determine whether repairs would prove too costly or compromise the fighter’s safe operation.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the ROK bought 40 F-35A’s at $175 million a piece.

To be fair South Korea is far from the only country with a vulnerability to drone strikes. Militaries around the world are all struggling to develop defenses against this new technology that is being used heavily on the battlefields in Ukraine:

An incursion of South Korean airspace by North Korean drones exposed Seoul’s lack of preparedness in defending against such threats, and it will likely take years for the military to correct its shortcomings, according to a classified U.S. intelligence assessment of the December incident.

The findings, outlined in a leak of U.S. secrets circulated on the Discord messaging platform and obtained by The Washington Post, spotlight the vulnerable state of South Korea’s air defense as its volatile neighbor’s aggressive development of a nuclear arsenal has Seoul and Washington on edge.

South Korea has prioritized its defenses to confront incoming missiles while investing heavily in growing its air and naval forces, but Seoul’s focus has come at the cost of neglecting other air defense needs, experts said — leaving the country vulnerable to a threat responsible for extensive carnage in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Just another example of the growing trilateral cooperation between the ROK, Japan, and the U.S.:

The U.S. military has revealed South Korean, U.S. and Japanese submarine commanders jointly boarded an American nuclear ballistic missile submarine for the first time last month, in a sign of bolstering trilateral cooperation against North Korean threats.

On the Pentagon’s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, it posted a series of photos showing the three officials aboard the USS Maine, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, in the vicinity of Guam on April 18.

The three were Rear Adm. Lee Su-youl, the commander of the South Korean Navy’s Submarine Force; Rear Adm. Rick Seif, the commander of the U.S.’ Submarine Group 7; and Vice Adm. Tateki Tawara, the commander of Japan’s Fleet Submarine Force.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is great to see the growing trilateral cooperation between the ROK, U.S., and Japan:

South Korea, the United States and Japan kicked off a trilateral naval exercise, involving an American aircraft carrier, in waters south of the Korean Peninsula on Monday, Seoul’s defense ministry said, amid joint efforts to reinforce deterrence against growing North Korean threats.

The two-day anti-submarine and search-and-rescue exercise, featuring the USS Nimitz carrier, got under way in the international waters south of the southern island of Jeju.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how much these regulations will improve morale for troops eating in ROK military chow halls. I have eaten in ROK Army chow halls before and the food wasn’t bad, but if I had to eat it every day with no variety I can understand why Soldiers would complain:

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday announced a new food service modernization program for this year that meets more of soldiers’ preferences, so that they could enjoy more varied options at barracks starting from the next month.

The new plan seeks to end the previous military policy of providing meals to around 500,000 enlisted soldiers based on standardized menus and ingredients that were unilaterally imposed by the military authorities without considering soldiers’ predilections for food.

South Korean troops have so far designed a daily menu to meet the allocated amount of food ingredients that must be supplied to soldiers. For instance, the existing food service program mandates that a soldier should consume 8.84 grams of white radish, 1.54 grams of green pumpkin, and 3.41 grams of napa cabbage per day.

But the new policy — which will be implemented this April — enables military units to independently select menus to reflect the preferences of enlisted soldiers as long as meal plans cover their nutritional needs and are within budget.

The South Korean military will also renounce its mandatory consumption rate of livestock products. For instance, troops are currently required to allocate 15 percent of pork loin and 22 percent of pork foreleg when stir-frying pork.

But according to the new program, the units will be able to freely choose livestock products within the budget.

The frequency of providing unflavored milk, which is not popular among soldiers, will be reduced. The military will instead supply flavored milk products, soybean milk and juice to soldiers to reflect their preferences.

The South Korean troops will also be able to provide various brands of processed food products, including tofu, sugar, salt and cooking oil. Military units do not have the option to choose brands as only a single company is selected as a provider.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.