Category: US-ROK Alliance

Tensions are once again heating up on the Korean peninsula after North Korea’s latest missile test:

North Korea fired a missile that flew farther than any before — 4,600 kilometers (2,850 miles) — and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol warned of a “resolute” response.  
   
The intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) travelled over Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean, reaching an apex of 1,000 kilometers and a terminal speed of Mach 17 in its final re-entry phase, according to South Korean military authorities.  
   
The test triggered a nationwide emergency alert in Japan — known as a J-Alert — for the first time in five years.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

Here is what the US & ROK did in response which I don’t think the Kim regime is going to be too impressed by:

In response to the test, a South Korean F-15K fighter fired two Joint Direct Attack Munition (Jadam) guided bombs at a firing range on the unhabited island of Jikdo in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, the South Korean military said.  
   
The JCS said that the F-15K dropped the Jadam bombs on Jikdo following air drills with U.S. warplanes in a joint strike group consisting of four South Korean F-15Ks and four U.S. F-16 fighters. 

I guess we will see in the coming days if the US, ROK, and Japan respond even more strongly in other ways. If so this will continue to increase tensions which is probably what the Kim regime wants to justify their long anticipated nuclear test.

It will be interesting to see if the Biden administration tries to make any changes to the IRA to address Korean concerns:

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris promised President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday that the United States will look for solutions to South Korea’s concerns about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as the law is implemented, the presidential office said.

Harris conveyed the position after Yoon reiterated South Korea’s concerns that the law will hurt Korean carmakers by giving tax credits only to electric vehicles assembled in North America, according to deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung.

“President Yoon delivered our concerns about the U.S. IRA, saying he hopes the two countries will closely cooperate to produce a mutually satisfying agreement in the spirit of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement,” Lee said during a press briefing.

“In response, Vice President Harris said not only she, but also President Biden, are well aware of South Korea’s concerns and will look into it carefully in order to find ways to resolve South Korea’s concerns in the process of the law’s implementation,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It has been five years and the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan is back conducting exercises with the ROK Navy in response to a North Korean provocation:

The USS Ronald Reagan, the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered supercarrier, will arrive at the southeastern port city of Busan later this week for joint military drills with South Korea amid mounting nuclear threats from North Korea. 

According to military sources Sunday, the Nimitz-class supercarrier will take part in combined exercises with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy in the East Sea this month for the first time since 2017, when Pyongyang conducted its sixth nuclear weapons test.

The move comes immediately after the two allies issued a joint statement Friday (local time), after holding a meeting in Washington to denounce the North for passing a law earlier this month to grant its military the right to use nuclear weapons preemptively. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also called the nation’s nuclear status “irreversible,” leaving no room for negotiation on the issue.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

North Korea was surprisingly quiet during the recent Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, but I don’t expect them to be quiet for much longer and apparently neither does the Pentagon:

The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a forward-deployed aircraft carrier, will arrive at the South Korean port city of Busan later this month amid signs of a possible nuclear test by North Korea, government sources said Friday.

According to the sources, Seoul and Washington are discussing plans to conduct bilateral exercises on the East Sea after the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier arrives in Busan.

The Reagan is expected to stay in the country for about a week to participate in the military drill with the South Korean Navy, as well as friendly and goodwill events.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This live fire is being executed as part of the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise:

South Korea and the United States staged a large-scale combined live-fire exercise near the inter-Korean border Wednesday, in a vivid display of the allies’ military might amid North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

A centerpiece of the Combined Joint Fires Coordination Exercise (CJFCX) took place in Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, about 30 kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), involving high-morale troops, battle tanks, mortars, howitzers and warplanes to boot.

Yonhap News Agency and three other news outlets were given access to observe the four-day exercise set to run through Thursday, as the allies are pushing to beef up combined drills amid concerns about possible North Korean provocations like a nuclear test.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what provocation North Korea decides to go with in response to this military exercise:

During the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, there will be 13 combined field training programs, as well as a full operational capability assessment, a key procedure for the envisioned conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul.

The same day, the government also started the annual Ulchi civil defense training program, led by government employees for the next four days.

“We can protect the lives of the people and national security only through realistic drills. Preserving peace on the Korean Peninsula is built on our airtight defense preparedness,” President Yoon Suk-yeol said at a Cabinet meeting at his office in Seoul. “Today’s war is different from the one of the past. It may involve cyberattacks on key facilities such as ports, airports and (the manufacturing plants of) semiconductors or attacks on the supply chains of important materials, with the aim of neutralizing our war capabilities.”

In fact, during the last five years, the two allies’ regular military drills were canceled or reduced to just computer simulations, while North Korea tested new types of weapons from their arsenal as part of its weapons development program, including hypersonic as well as short-range, intermediate-range and long-range ballistic missiles, which require new contingency plans and new drills.

Although the two allies made it clear that the Ulchi Freedom training exercise is defensive in nature, it is expected to draw an aggressive reaction from the North, which is likely to be ready for its seventh nuclear weapons test.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It seems the U.S. and the ROK are getting their responses coordinated for whatever provocation the North Koreans have planned to execute during the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise later this month:

South Korea and the United States are set to hold regular defense talks here next week, informed sources said Sunday, as the allies are striving to reinforce security coordination amid North Korea’s military threats.

The biannual Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) is expected to run from Aug. 16 to 17 in Seoul, the sources said, with the allies likely to discuss joint deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The meeting comes amid speculation that Pyongyang has completed preparations for a nuclear test. It also comes ahead of the allies’ combined exercise, dubbed the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) training, set for Aug. 22-Sept. 1.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Mark your calendar because sometime after August 22nd when the UFS exercise begins is likely when the North Koreans will launch a major provocation such as a ICBM launch or nuclear test:

Plans to expand a combined military drill between South Korea and the United States against North Korea’s growing threats are expected to bring the Korean Peninsula back to a state of confrontation, ratcheting up cross-border tensions, Pyongyang watchers said, Monday.

The prediction comes as the allies seek to enhance their overall capabilities to deal with a possible all-out war on the peninsula through the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, scheduled for Aug. 22 to Sept. 1, according to Seoul’s defense ministry. In addition, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also threatened last week to annihilate the new South Korean administration he claimed is pursuing a U.S.-led hostile policy against the North. 

“It is inevitable that inter-Korean confrontation will deepen as North Korea has strongly responded to the combined exercise,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher of the Korea Institute for National Unification.

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, also presented a similar view.

“North Korea has denounced the combined exercise, along with a dispatch of U.S. strategic assets, as a hostile policy toward the country, so the North is anticipated to vehemently respond to the drill in accordance with its leader’s pledge, which would greatly escalate tensions on the peninsula,” Park said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It was only a matter of time before the major bilateral military exercises got restarted after the Yoon administration won the last election and now we have them:

 South Korea and the United States are resuming large-scale field military exercises suspended for four years when the two nations tried to negotiate North Korea away from its nuclear weapons, according to an official announcement Friday.

Combined exercises by battalions and larger units of the U.S. and South Korean militaries will commence in August and again in early 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Defense said in a news release. The exercises will also be rebranded as Ulchi Freedom Shield in August and Freedom Shield next year.

The exercises will be defensive in nature, according to the ministry.

Another 11 separate field exercises, such as bridge construction, explosive disposal, attack helicopter fire and special warfare are also scheduled with U.S. troops in the coming months, according to the Defense Ministry.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This should have been a great event for the U.S. troops involved in this training:

South Korea and the United States have been conducting combined military drills, involving a high-tech training system, Seoul official said Monday, amid the allies’ stepped-up efforts to sharpen deterrence against North Korea’s evolving security threats.

The 11-day training got under way at the Army’s Korea Combat Training Center (KCTC) in Inje, 165 kilometers east of Seoul, on July 11. It involved 4,300 South Korean troops from the 51st Brigade of the 12th Division and 81st Brigade of the 28th Division, as well as 300 U.S. troops of the 1st Armored Brigade.

It marked the first time that U.S. troops have been assigned to the South’s two separate brigade combat teams fighting against each other under a KCTC training program, according to Army officials.

During the troops, the South Korean and U.S. militaries mobilized some 100 pieces of battle equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled howitzers, attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Through high-intensity combat training, I have felt a sense of comradeship,” a South Korean participant was quoted as saying. “I will continue to engage in training programs to build strong combat capabilities to be able to fight and win right away in a battle against the enemy.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.