Category: US-ROK Alliance

Our latest Korea Chair Snapshot covers the new U.S.-ROK 123 agreement, announced on April 22. http://t.co/iAWdtbownm

— CSIS Korea Chair (@CSISKoreaChair) April 22, 2015

Deployment of US missile defense considered for South Korea http://t.co/gGUMQGYQWp #KoreaNews

— Korea News Summary (@ROKreport) April 16, 2015

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is in Seoul discussing the US defense commitment to the peninsula:

Defence Secretary Ashton Carter promised Friday that the US would deploy state of the art weaponry in Asia, including the latest stealth bombers and cyber warfare units, to counter threats posed by the likes of North Korea.

“Our newest and best things are being deployed to this part of the world,” Carter said in Seoul — the second leg of a visit to the two key US military allies in the region, Japan and South Korea. (…………)

Stressing that military deterrence and readiness were “at a premium” on the divided peninsula, Carter said the US was investing in “advanced capabilities …. tailored to this dynamic security environment.”

Asked to expand, he cited new stealth bombers, F-35 stealth fighters and highly developed cyber warfare systems that could be rotationally deployed in the Asian theatre.  [AFP]

You can read the rest at the link, but what wasn’t supposedly discussed was the deployment of a THAAD missile defense system to South Korea which continues to be a touchy subject due to Beijing’s objections to the deployment.

U.S.-Japan defense pact likely to address Seoul's demand over collective self-defense http://t.co/nivsWw1ZAd

— Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) April 9, 2015

The July 2009 file photo shows an air-to-surface Hellfire missile launched from a U.S. Apache helicopter over the waters off South Korea’s southwestern city of Gunsan. The United States said on April 2, 2015, it has approved a possible sale of 400 AGM-114R1 Hellfire II Semi-Active Laser Missiles to South Korea. (Yonhap)

General Dempsey was in town and supposedly the word THAAD was never uttered one time:

The military chiefs of South Korea and the United States met Friday in Seoul to talk about a range of defense issues, though Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the hot potato issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, was not discussed.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the American JCS, paid a visit to the National Cemetery Friday and then to the Korean JCS in Yongsan, central Seoul, where he had a discussion with his Korean counterpart Adm. Choi Yoon-hee and other JCS members. Dempsey was on the second day of a three-day visit to South Korea

During the talks, the two top military officials discussed the transfer of wartime operation control, measures to strengthen the combined defense posture of the two countries and also the future of the alliance.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see if anything significant comes out these talks next week:

The top U.S. military officer will visit South Korea next week for talks with his counterpart on boosting the bilateral alliance, Seoul officials said Friday, amid keen attention on whether the two will discuss the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system here.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), is scheduled to arrive Thursday for a three-day stay, during which he plans to hold talks with South Korea’s JCS chairman, Adm. Choi Yun-hee, and meet with Defense Minister Han Min-koo, according to Seoul’s JCS.

Dempsey’s trip here is considered a return visit before he leaves office at the end of September, the JCS said, noting Choi traveled to the U.S. in July last year, it added.

“The JCS chairmen of South Korea and the U.S. will boost their relationship, reaffirm their strong will for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and discuss ways on how to develop the alliance in the future,” the JCS said in a statement.

“The chairmen are expected to deal with a wide range of pending issues, including how to deal with North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats and their preparedness for the transfer of the wartime operational control of South Korean troops,” a JCS officer said.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

Shown is a signboard at a bus stop in New York on March 15, 2015, to promote the bilateral alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has two photos of South Korean President Park Geun-hye recently visiting U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert at a hospital in Seoul after the envoy was injured in an attack by a knife-wielding, anti-U.S. activist. (Yonhap)

Here is the latest on the whole deploying the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea that has the Chinese worked up:

The United States has included its advanced missile-defense system as part of the support it would provide South Korea in emergency situations on the Korean Peninsula, a South Korean military source said Sunday.

“The U.S. plans to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula,” a military source told Yonhap News Agency. “My understanding is that THAAD is easily transportable with a U.S. military aircraft.”

Washington has recently hinted at the deployment of a battery on Korean soil to better deter the North’s growing nuclear and missile threats. The U.S. stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which is technically ongoing since no peace treaty has been signed to end it.

The issue of whether or not South Korea should host the American missile defense system has caused a bipartisan divide in local politics. While conservatives support the system, the liberal side has not been so welcoming since it believes the U.S. presence here undermines South Korean sovereignty. The U.S., meanwhile, claims the battery is defensive in nature.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but it seems to me the ROK government is doing a good job of using this deployment as a way to pressure the Chinese to keep the North Koreans in line. If the North Koreans do something provocative the ROK can then tell the US to deploy THAAD to South Korea which is something the Chinese do not want. This keeps the pressure on the Chinese while simultaneously maintaining South Korea’s strategic goal of balancing its relationship with both China and the US.

Kerry, Carter expected to visit S. Korea in near future: sources http://t.co/b83cS83tvO

— Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) March 11, 2015