A casket carrying the body of the late former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan is being moved into Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Monday. Yonhap
In more submarine news, a ROK firm is going all in to win a contract to build 12 subs for the Canadians:
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun joined a Korean government delegation to assist Korean shipbuilders’ bid to supply patrol submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy.
According to industry and government officials, Chung flew to Canada on Monday to join the delegation comprised of government officials including presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan. Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan and Joo Won-ho, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (HD HHI) Naval & Special Ship Business Unit, will also join the delegation.
Hanwha Group’s shipbuilding arm, Hanwha Ocean, has formed a consortium with HD HHI to bid on Canada’s Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), a 60 billion Canadian dollar ($43 billion) program to procure 12 diesel submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy.
You can read more at the link.
Big defense topics being discussed in South Korea:
This photo, provided by the defense ministry, shows Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (L) and U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby during their meeting at the ministry compound in Seoul on Jan. 26, 2026
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back held talks Monday with U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby to discuss Seoul’s push to build nuclear-powered submarines, regain wartime operation control of its troops from Washington and other pending security issues. (…….)
Both sides agreed that cooperation on Seoul’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines would bolster its capabilities to defend the Korean Peninsula and serve as a key landmark in elevating their alliance to a higher level.
You can read more at the link.
If the ROK government had properly coordinated for the investigators to enter Osan Airbase none of these changes would have been necessary:
Osan Air Base, a key hub for South Korea-US air operations, has become the center of controversy over how sensitive personal data of Korean nationals is handled — raising concerns about consent, oversight and control over when such information is collected and retained by a foreign military authority.
According to multiple sources on Sunday, the South Korean Air Force’s Operations Command headquartered at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, is collecting full resident registration numbers of reservists mobilized for training and submitting them to the US 7th Air Force, which operates the base jointly with South Korean forces.
“In the past, reservists could enter the base under Korean military escort,” a South Korean Air Force official told The Korea Herald, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But since US forces now manage access control, identity verification standards have changed.”
“Previously, the Military Manpower Administration provided only basic information such as name, contact details, and date of birth,” the official added. “Now, US forces are requesting full resident registration numbers.”
You can read more at the link.
Hopefully China doesn’t take this as a signal to become more aggressive against Taiwan:
A new U.S. national defense strategy released Friday puts protection of the homeland and access to strategic terrain in the Western Hemisphere atop the military’s agenda, marking a shift from the Pentagon’s previous position that countering China was the Defense Department’s number one pacing threat. The Pentagon’s long-awaited new plan lines up with the White House’s National Security Strategy, released last month, and prioritizes border security, targeting drug traffickers and “fearlessly” defending “America’s interests across the hemisphere.” “We will guarantee U.S. military and commercial access to key terrain, especially the Panama Canal, Gulf of America, and Greenland,” the document states. “We will provide President Trump with credible military options to use against narco-terrorists wherever they may be.”
You can read more at the link.
Please leave anything you want to discuss in the comments section.
