Tag: ROK military

This is something I had been wondering about because if the fishery official was floating in the water for six hours before being shot by the North Koreans, why didn’t anyone try to rescue him?:

South Korea’s defense ministry said Wednesday there were no such words as “shoot to kill or fire” in the military’s initial intelligence on North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the West Sea. 

The ministry also expressed regret over some reports that said the South’s military took no action despite hearing the North’s order to kill the official. 

“What happened during the incident in which (the North) shot (the South Korean fisheries official) and burned (his body) was determined after a considerable lapse of time by analyzing pieces of intelligence,” the ministry said. 

It also said the military did not know all of the facts of the incident in real time. 

In line with the ministry’s remarks, the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae denied the reports that the government had full awareness of the situation but did not suitably respond to it.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this leads me to believe that the ROK military must have cameras and listening devices placed in certain areas or unmanned aerial reconnaissance that they can download as needed to view imagery from in that area.

SpaceX has just put up South Korea’s first military communications satellite:

South Korea’s first military communications satellite was launched into space Monday, Seoul’s arms procurement agency said, making the country the world’s 10th to own a communications satellite for military purposes only.

The Anasis-II satellite lifted off atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket manufactured by U.S commercial space firm SpaceX from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:30 p.m. (U.S. time), according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This has been a long time coming:

 South Korea on Tuesday began accepting applications from men who want to substitute mandatory military service for other public services due to religious or personal beliefs, the military manpower agency said. 

By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must carry out military service for about two years in a country that faces North Korea across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders. Violators are punished with prison terms.

In December, the National Assembly passed a bill allowing “conscientious objectors” to do 36 months of alternative service at local correctional facilities, instead of joining the military.

Last week, a 29-member committee — comprising lawyers, professors, activists and other experts from various fields — was launched to review the applications.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have always felt there is more productive things that can be done with consciouses objectors than putting them in jail. It is good to see this now happening.

The staff sergeant who is believed to be the main spreader of the Itaewon infection cluster has also reportedly infected a number of personnel he worked with the at the ROK Cyber Command as well:

 An officer at the South Korean military’s cyber command has tested positive for the new coronavirus in the latest in a series of cases traced to a member of the command infected following a visit to clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon district, the defense ministry said Friday.

The new case raised the total number of infections in the military to 51.

The infected officer is one of the Cyber Operations Command personnel put into quarantine at a military facility in Goesan, some 160 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after having contact with a staff sergeant who contracted the virus following a visit to clubs and bars in Itaewon early this month. 

Nine of the staff sergeant’s colleagues have been infected so far.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This guy had an easy job as it was for his mandatory service and found a way to blow it. They should send him to a frontline military unit to complete this service to send a message to anyone else trying to defraud their mandatory service time:

The Seoul Administrative Court found Tuesday that a man completing his alternative military service working at his father’s company had violated the Military Service Act.  

A 37-year-old man surnamed Yoo had served alternative military service for three years between March 2013 and February 2016 as an expert researcher at an institute approved by the military. After requesting a transfer from the initial institute he was serving at, Yoo spent 14 months, from February 2014 to when he was discharged, at the research institute which is run by a company of which his father was the representative director.

The National Police Agency only uncovered the connection in 2018 while probing the company for another allegation of violating the Protection of Communications Secrets Act. Police found during the probe that Yoo’s father had been the representative director effectively running the research institute. The Military Manpower Administration in turn determined Yoo to have violated the Military Service Act.  

In November 2018, Yoo received a notice from the Military Manpower Administration to serve his compulsory military duty again. However, because Yoo was over 36, he was told to serve as a public service worker. In turn, Yoo filed a suit against the Military Manpower Administration to withdraw its cancellation of his completion of alternative service.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what the ROK military does with this case:

Will South Korea accept a transgender person in the military? 

The Army is examining a “keep or drop” case involving a petty officer who underwent sex-change surgery in Thailand last year while on leave. 

The officer ― who is also seeking to change his legal gender to “female” ― is recuperating from the surgery, hoping to stay in the military.

The Army is planning to hold a meeting next week to decide on the case. If the decision is to keep “him,” he will become the first transgender person in uniform. This could have a far-reaching impact on a society facing heated conflicts over LGBT and gender-based discrimination. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.