Category: USFK

The cooperation between the U.S., the ROK, and Japan continues to expand:

South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to conduct a joint aerial exercise for the first time near the Korean Peninsula next week, a source said Wednesday, amid efforts to bolster three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats.

The trilateral aerial exercise is scheduled for Sunday over the Korean Peninsula, involving the U.S. strategic bomber B-52 currently deployed to South Korea.

“The joint aerial exercise involving South Korean, U.S. and Japanese Air Forces will consist of a formation flight with the B-52 escorted fighter jets from the three countries,” a source familiar with the matter said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Look who they finally successfull got back in to the U.S.:

Video appears to show the American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago arriving back in the U.S. 

The White House said Wednesday that Pvt. Travis King’s return was organized with the help of ally Sweden and rival China. North Korea said it would expel King earlier the same day. King appeared to walk off a plane in San Antonio, Texas, early Thursday. King ran into the North while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18. He had served in South Korea.

The American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago arrived back in the U.S. early Thursday, video appeared to show. (……)

Video aired Thursday by a Texas news station appeared to show King walking off a plane in San Antonio. Dressed in a dark top and pants, he could be seen speaking briefly with people waiting on the tarmac. He shook hands with one before being led into a building.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link and watch the video of King arriving at the San Antonio airport at this link.

It seems even the North Koreans got tired of dealing with this idiot considering they deported him witouth any concessions:

 An American soldier who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea in July is in U.S. custody after his release by the reclusive regime, senior U.S. administration officials said Wednesday, capping an intense diplomatic operation facilitated by Sweden and China.

Speaking in a press briefing, the officials said Pvt. Travis King has been transferred out of North Korea across the border with China, and that he appears to be “in good health and good spirits” ahead of his return home.

The announcement on his release came shortly after the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Pyongyang decided to “expel” him following a probe, during which the outlet said he confessed to having “illegally intruded” into the North’s territory.

Yonhap

Here is what Private King supposeldy had to say while in North Korean custody:

Hours earlier, KCNA said North Korean authorities conducted an investigation, where he said he had “ill feelings” about the U.S. military and society.

“Travis King confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. army and was disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society,” KCNA said in its English-language report. “The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to expel Travis King.

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see what additional charges this idiot will face for his latest stupidity. Hopefully USFK gets him out of the country as soon as possible before he creates more problems and this time have someone escort and fly with him the entire way back to the U.S.

U.S. Navy assets recently completed a trilateral naval exercise in the Yellow Sea:

The amphibious assault ship USS America, center, the South Korean guided-missile frigate ROKS Seoul, left, and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver train together in the Yellow Sea, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. (South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense)

Warships from the United States, South Korea and Canada drilled Thursday in response to continuing tension with North Korea, and ahead of the reenactment of a pivotal Korean War landing. 

The amphibious assault ship USS America, homeported at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, joined the South Korean guided-missile frigate ROKS Seoul and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver on Thursday in the Yellow Sea, according to a news release that day from South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

The warships drilled on tactical maneuvers and helicopter operations, the release said.

“This exercise served as momentum to further improve our reaction posture and ability to deal with North Korea’s threats through the combined multilateral naval exercises by [South Korea], the U.S. and Canadian naval forces,” South Korean navy Cmdr. Kim Hyunseok said in the release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is actually a pretty good article to read about skills the 10 armistice nations brought to assist USFK during the recently concluded UFS exercise. However, I think a gender advisor is probably not as useful as some of the other skills provided by participating nations:

British Royal Air Force Cpl. Sion Owen (left), New Zealand Royal Air Force Flt Lt. Natacha Baugen (center) and Australian Army Maj. Lyndsay Freeman speak during an interview on Aug. 30 at the headquarters of the UN Command located within Camp Humphreys, the US base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. (Korea Herald/ Pool Photo)

South Korea and the US, concluded on Thursday. UFS is primarily designed to enhance the combined defense posture and readiness of the allies by simulating real-life scenarios that reflect the increasing missile and nuclear threats posed by North Korea and other diverse threats within the security environment.

During the Korean War, there were 16 Sending States — countries that fought alongside the US-led UN Command and shed blood with South Korea — and six other countries that provided vital medical assistance, including medical personnel and essential medications. Among them, 17 countries have remained as UN Command member states.

Among the member states, 10 countries — Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and the US — dispatched augmentees from their respective countries to participate in UFS. Augmentees are military personnel dispatched from home and assigned to a unit to participate in UFS.

The 10 member states — each of which deployed soldiers during the Korean War — sent individuals from diverse backgrounds and experts representing various fields, including law and gender equality. They were all united by the common mission of contributing to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. (….)

Australian Army Maj. Lyndsay Freeman also made significant contributions as an operational gender adviser, pioneering this vital role first introduced during UFS.

Freeman’s primary focus was to ensure that military actions underwent a meticulous assessment to prevent any unintended adverse effects on women and the broader civilian population on the ground — a perspective that might not always be immediately apparent to military leadership during the formulation of strategies and operational plans.

“So my job is to unpack the second-and third-order effects on the entire population.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Aircraft noise has returned to Kunsan Airbase:

Military flights at Kunsan Air Base resumed Thursday following a five-month reconstruction of the installation’s 9,000-foot runway.

The $22 million project began in April and required the 8th Fighter Wing’s roughly 30 F-16 Fighting Falcons to temporarily relocate 75 miles north to Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek city, according to a news release from the wing on Thursday.

Kunsan’s F-16s returned to their home base Wednesday after the flightline was checked for debris the previous day by the wing and the South Korean air force’s 38th Fighter Group.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

That is a lot of firepower on display during this exercise:

U.S. warplanes conduct a training exercise in this photo captured from the Facebook account of the U.S. 7th Air Force. (Yonhap)

The U.S. military in South Korea conducted air force training involving dozens of warplanes, including F-16 fighter jets and U-2 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, earlier this month, the U.S. 7th Air Force has said. 

The training “underlines our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea,” and it demonstrated “our ability to rapidly generate combat air power,” the U.S. military said in a Facebook post Saturday, referring to South Korea by its official name. 

The display of airpower came amid lingering tension on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s continued weapons testing. 

During the “Elephant Walk” training, the fully armed jets taxied in formation along an unspecified airfield to practice standard pre-takeoff procedures and check their readiness, it said.

Yonhap