Tag: ROK military

Some more changes are coming to the ROK military:

The defense ministry said Wednesday it will complete reducing the mandatory military service period to 18 months by next year as planned as part of a series of reform projects under way to make the military “smaller and stronger.” 

During a meeting on defense reform presided over by Defense Minister Suh Wook, officials said the military is on course to cut the service period for Army draftees to 18 months by December 2021, according to the ministry. 

All able-bodied South Korean men must carry out compulsory military service for about two years in a country that faces North Korea across a heavily fortified border.

Other reform measures include raising the proportion of female service members and decreasing the number of generals with one to four stars.

The number of female service members stood at 7.4 percent this year, 0.6 percentage point higher than the previous year.

Among 76 general positions subject to reduction, 46 have been cut so far, the ministry said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a much needed system to protect the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area from North Korea’s long range artillery:

South Korea will begin developing its own interceptor system like Israel’s Iron Dome in the next five years to defend the country’s core infrastructure in the capital area against North Korea’s long-range artillery threats, the defense ministry said Monday. 

Unveiling its defense blueprint for 2021-2025, the ministry also said it will officially begin procedures to acquire a light aircraft carrier next year and start the production of a homegrown fighter jet which is currently under development.

The defense program calls for spending 300.7 trillion won (US$253 billion), a 6.1 percent on-year hike on average over the next five years. Of the total, 100 trillion won was allocated for improving defense capabilities, while the remaining 200 trillion won was set for force management.

“When we talk about South Korea’s missile defense system, it usually refers to one targeting North Korea’s Scud-type or stronger missiles, whereas this new interceptor system will focus on protecting the capital area against the North’s long-range artillery such as its 240-mm or 300-mm multiple rocket launchers,” a ministry official said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this domestically produced system will not be available until the late 2020’s or into the 2030’s. It seems with a vulnerability as bad as this one the ROK should just purchase the Iron Dome system from Israel.

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.