It looks like the Russians are moving equipment from the Kamchatka peninsula and Kuril Islands over to to mainland to be transported over to the fight in Ukraine:

Emanual was there to see off a 38-ton shipment of nonlethal military supplies, including helmets and bulletproof vests, that Japan donated to Ukraine. 

Japan has reported spotting numerous Russia warships on the move in international waters near its northern borders this month.

Most recently, four Russian amphibious ships, traveling in pairs, were spotted east-northeast of Japan’s main island of Honshu on March 15 and 16, Japan’s Joint Staff said in a news release last week.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but Putin must be getting desperate if he is having to move equipment from the far reaches of Russia to fight the Ukrainians. Notice that the picture shows a ship filled with transport trucks. Shortages of trucks to move supplies into Ukraine has been something reported in the media that Russia has been lacking to sustain offensive operations.

This is going to make life much easier for units that have been supporting troops in quarantine for the past two years:

Fully vaccinated American troops, family members and military contractors are no longer required to quarantine upon arrival in South Korea. 

U.S. Forces Korea, the command responsible for roughly 28,500 troops on the peninsula, announced in a press release Tuesday that it has done away with a mandatory seven-day COVID-19 quarantine for international arrivals “based on recent [South Korea] policy changes.”

South Korea’s government on Monday dropped a similar policy for vaccinated travelers; however, those who arrive from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Myanmar are still required to isolate. 

To meet USFK’s fully vaccinated qualification, personnel must have either received a single or two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen within 14 to 180 days, or received the full vaccine series and a booster shot.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Elect Yoon is setting the prelude to withdrawing from the Inter-Korean Military Agreement since North Korea is refusing to follow it:

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday that North Korea’s recent artillery firing was a violation of an inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement.

Yoon made the remark during a meeting with members of his transition team, two days after South Korea’s military said North Korea fired four shots from multiple rocket launchers into the Yellow Sea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This would be an interesting legal opinion to get on whether the Japanese pacifist constitution would allow them to conduct an offensive operation to reclaim land that was originally Japanese which is the case of the Kuril Islands. I doubt the Japanese would ever do such a thing though considering Russia’s nuclear arsenal:

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday during a House of Councillors committee session that the northern territories are being “occupied illegally by Russia.”

The government had avoided using such an expression to promote negotiations for a peace treaty that would address the northern territories issue, but has now changed its stance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Foreign Ministry, this is the first time a Japanese prime minister in the Diet has referred to an “illegal occupation” regarding the northern territories since 2009, when then Prime Minister Taro Aso used the expression. At that time, Russia criticized its use, saying it was an attempt to challenge Russia’s sovereignty.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

President Elect Yoon is going to see a full pressure campaign to get him to stop the move to the Ministry of Defense. It doesn’t matter where you work, established interests are always hesitant to embrace change:

The office of President Moon Jae-in voiced concerns Monday about President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to move the presidential office out of Cheong Wa Dae, saying it could leave a security vacuum at a time of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication, made the remark to reporters after a National Security Council meeting, saying it is unreasonable to relocate the defense ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the presidential office in such a short period of time before Yoon’s May 10 inauguration.

“Now is the time to unite security capabilities, as the security crisis on the Korean Peninsula is escalating,” Park said. “Therefore, it is necessary to look sufficiently into concern that sudden, unprepared relocations of the defense ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Cheong Wa Dae crisis management center could cause a security vacuum and confusion.”

Park said Cheong Wa Dae will convey its concerns to Yoon’s transition team. 

Yoon’s spokesperson expressed regret and said they will stick to the relocation plans.

“If President Moon Jae-in refuses to cooperate on an essential part of the most significant project in the transfer of power, there is no way to force him,” Kim Eun-hye said in a statement.

Upon taking office, she said, Yoon will continue to work from his current temporary office in Tongeui-dong near Cheong Wa Dae to handle pressing state affairs, making clear once again that Yoon will not move into Cheong Wa Dae.

“At the stroke of midnight on May 10, President-elect Yoon will fulfill his promise to fully open Cheong Wa Dae without fail,” she added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.