Category: ROK Military

Does any ROK Heads have any good names for this new ROK fighter jet?:

The Air Force has launched a naming contest for the country’s next-generation fighter jet under development, officials said Friday.

South Korea is building the first prototype jet for the KF-X project after its design was confirmed last year, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Through Oct. 30, South Koreans can submit suggestions for the new fighter with an explanation on how they represent the new jet’s mission. 

The winner will be given a model aircraft with an award from the Air Force chief of staff, officials said. 

Under the KF-X project worth 8.8 trillion won (US$7.5 billion), South Korea has been working since late 2015 to develop a homegrown cutting-edge fighter aircraft to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 jets.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Moon is cycling the Defense Minister position among all the military services:

President Moon Jae-in has nominated Army Chief of Staff Gen. Suh Wook as new defense minister, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday.

If appointed after a National Assembly confirmation hearing, Suh would replace Jeong Kyeong-doo. If so, he would become the first defense chief with an Army background under the Moon administration.

Moon’s first defense minister was a retired Navy admiral, Song Young-moo, and Jeong is a former fighter pilot who served as Air Force chief.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

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.

Life for this ROK Army Staff Sergeant must really suck, not only is he infected with COVID-19, but he has been outed as being gay, subject of derision across Korea for creating this cluster infection, and will likely get smash by ROK military justice for breaking an order:

South Korea’s military on Wednesday reported three more COVID-19 infections linked to a cluster that emerged in Seoul’s Itaewon district recently, bringing the tally to 11. The three soldiers apparently contracted the coronavirus from a staff sergeant at the Cyber Command in central Seoul.

Of all the cases uncovered so far, four soldiers and five officers worked at the Cyber Command, and the other two officers were stationed at an Army base in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The staff sergeant at the Cyber Command initially tested positive Friday after having visited a club in Itaewon on May 2 in violation of rules the military had imposed to cut risks. 

The sergeant is believed to be responsible for all the infections linked to Itaewon at the Cyber Command. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but let this be a warning to everyone in USFK thinking about going out to any bars or clubs. Could you imagine the negative media if a U.S. soldier caused a massive cluster infection like this?

Here is the latest on South Korea’s acquisition of the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft:

Two more units of the Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned aircraft are expected to arrive in South Korea this month, sources said Thursday, a move expected to further boost the country’s surveillance capabilities against North Korea and beyond.

Their planned arrival comes after South Korea brought in its first RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft in December last year. Under a 2011 deal, Seoul purchased four from the United States.

Air Force officers and the manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, have been working to bring in two additional units within this month, though the exact schedule is subject to change, according to the government sources. One remaining unit is also expected within the first half, they added.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this sale has been in the works since 2003 because of the delays caused by concerns that technology and information would be leaked to North Korea.  Now with the US wanting the ROK to take on more of their defense responsibilities the sale was approved and hopefully whatever concerns of technology leaks has been mitigated as well.

Here is the latest on how the coronavirus spread has effected the ROK military:

One Air Force officer stationed in the southeastern city of Daegu tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the military to 37 on Tuesday, the defense ministry said.

Of the total, 20 were in the Army, 13 in the Air Force, two in the Marine Corps and one each in the Navy and a unit under the direct control of the ministry, according to the defense ministry.

Thirty-two patients are active-duty service members and the remaining five are civilians working for the military, it added.

As a preventive step, around 2,560 service members are quarantined at their bases. Of them, around 280 have either shown symptoms or had direct contact with infected patients, while the remainder recently visited Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province or other virus-hit foreign nations, including China.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Well it looks like that if Seungri some how gets off from all the charges he is filing the ROK government is ready to still get him by making him do his mandatory military service:

Seungri, a former member of K-pop boy band BIGBANG, has been sent a notification of his mandatory military service, while he has been on trial on charges of gambling and arranging prostitution, the military manpower agency said Tuesday.

Last month, the prosecution indicted the scandal-ridden celebrity without physical detention on charges of gambling overseas and breaching the foreign exchange transaction act, as well as the act on the punishment of arranging commercial sex acts. 

“As the investigation into singer Seungri finished, we’ve sent the notice to have him serve the due duty,” the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) said in a release.

If he is allowed to postpone military service repeatedly because of his trial under way at a civilian court, he could eventually end up evading the service as the legal age limit for the service could pass, the agency said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.