Tag: South Korea

Australia’s military is expanding its role in the Pacific this time participating in a trilateral exercise in South Korea:

Over 130 U.S., South Korean and Australian aircraft began large-scale airpower drills this week to improve their teamwork, three days after U.S. and South Korean soldiers concluded a ground and air exercise.

Vigilant Defense, a five-day exercise that kicked off Monday, is taking place throughout South Korea with 25 types of aircraft, including U.S. F-35B Lightning IIs and F/A-18 Hornets, and South Korean F-35As and E-737 airborne early warning and control aircraft, according to a Ministry of National Defense news release Saturday.

A KC-30A multirole tanker transport from the Royal Australian Air Force will conduct aerial refueling drills, the release said. The Australian air force first appeared for the exercise last year when a KC-30A refueled South Korean KF-16s and U.S. F-35Bs.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This think tank is calling for 100 modernized tactical nuclear weapons to defend South Korea, but believes they should be stored in the U.S.:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) talks with officials during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute in Pyongyang on March 27, 2023, in this file photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim guided the work to mount nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles, and the institute reported the recent years’ work and production for bolstering the North’s nuclear forces, both in quality and quantity, according to the KCNA. (Yonhap)

South Korea and the United States should modernize around 100 U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to support the security of the South against North Korea’s growing threats, a research report said Monday.

The Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the Rand Corp. made the suggestion in a joint report, stressing the North has “already established a nuclear weapon force that could pose an existential threat” to South Korea and is “on the verge” of posing a serious threat to the U.S. 

“Kim Jong-un appears to be planning a force of at least 300 to 500 nuclear weapons… the 300-weapon threshold could almost be reached in 2030,” the report, titled “Options for Strengthening ROK Nuclear Assurance,” said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes the North Koreans to rescue the people on this ship:

This file photo, taken Oct. 27, 2017, shows a South Korean patrol ship departing a port in Sokcho, 151 kilometers northeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

A South Korean patrol ship on Sunday spotted a North Korean vessel stranded near the de-facto inter-Korean sea border in the East Sea and provided humanitarian assistance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The patrol ship was dispatched after a maritime patrol aircraft spotted the distressed vessel drifting in waters 200 kilometers east of the coastal town of Jejin and around 3 km north of the eastern Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 2:16 p.m., according to the JCS.

The South Korean ship initially deployed one inflatable boat to approach the vessel and confirmed it as a North Korean ship.

The North Korean vessel is suspected to be a small commercial ship some 10 meters long, according to an informed source. The military reportedly did not inspect the identities of those on board as the ship was in waters north of the NLL.

The people on board the North Korean ship said they have been adrift for 10 days and wished to return to their homeland, requesting assistance with food and water.

The South Korean military provided food and water “on humanitarian grounds,” and notified the North of the situation through the United Nations Command and international maritime communication channels for its assistance.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I also wonder what this so called commerical ship was transporting and where from?

I am actually surprised there has not been another Korean President that has ever visited Qatar considering all the past business deals ROK businesses have completed in the Middle East:

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, speaks with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at a ceremony for signing memorandums of understanding during their bilateral summit at the Amiri Diwan palace in Doha on Wednesday. This marks the first state visit by a Korean president to Qatar. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea and Qatar signed deals amounting to some $4.6 billion during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s bilateral summit with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Wednesday. 
  
Yoon was greeted in an official welcoming ceremony, followed by bilateral talks, a ceremony to sign memorandums of understanding (MOU) and a state luncheon, according to the presidential office. 
  
Yoon is the first Korean president to make a state visit to Qatar.

The two sides discussed expanding cooperation beyond energy and construction to investment, defense, agriculture, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea has found another customer for their ever growing defense industry exports:

South Korea and Saudi Arabia are in the final stage of talks over large-scale defense industry cooperation in areas including antiaircraft defense systems and firearms, a South Korean presidential official said Sunday.

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo made the revelation to reporters while accompanying South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on a four-day state visit to Saudi Arabia.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like MBS is no longer all that radioactive on the world scene anymore as more national leaders are doing business with him to include South Korea:

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hold summit talks at the Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Oct. 22, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to deepen and develop the strategic partnership between the two countries as they held a summit in Riyadh on Sunday, Yoon’s office said.

The two leaders held talks at the Al Yamamah Palace on the second day of Yoon’s four-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, which came as the two sides explore new areas of economic cooperation beyond the traditional sectors of construction and energy.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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.

By Korean rally standards this is a very small group, however it did have U.S. embassy officials attend this rally in Seoul in support of Israel:

The flags of Israel and Korea held by participants of a rally in Seoul on Tuesday in support of Israel in the wake of the Hamas militant group’s attack on Israel and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. [NEWS1]

Hundreds of Koreans and Israelis in Korea rallied to support Israel in Seoul on Tuesday as top diplomats from Israel and the United States stood side-by-side to voice support for the Jewish state in the wake of Hamas’s brutal attack on Oct. 7. 
  
“Thank you to all the Jewish and Israeli people living in Korea for coming today to Gwanghwamun and not giving in to fear or anxiety,” said Akiva Tor, ambassador of Israel to Korea, addressing the crowd gathered near Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul on Tuesday, many waving the flag of Israel. “I would like to thank the Republic of Korea’s government for its strong statements of condemnation of the Hamas atrocities and for being a friend to Israel.”

The rally, organized by the Korea-Israel Friendship Association and Israel Forum, was joined by some 200 participants, according to the organizers.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.