Category: ROK Military

This is another way for South Korea to respond to increasing provocative behavior from North Korea:

South Korea’s army held live-fire artillery practice near the border with North Korea for the first time in six years, and the first such move since suspending a ban on live drills in June. The artillery drill was conducted at an unspecified firing range within three miles of the Military Demarcation Line, the actual border dividing the Korean Peninsula, according to a news release Tuesday from the South Korean army.

The border is inside the 2½-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone. Numerous air and artillery ranges are scattered near the border with North Korea. U.S. and South Korean troops conduct drills throughout the year at the 3,390-acre Rodriguez Live Fire Complex roughly 16 miles south of the border. Tuesday’s artillery drill focused on South Korea’s “response capabilities and fire preparedness” in the event of North Korean provocations, the release said. The army said it plans to regularly conduct artillery drills around the area for the foreseeable future.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I had no idea that the ROK military does not allow trainees to run with their gear on. After this incident I am sure word is going to get out broadly to not allow trainees to run with gear on:

A violation of military regulation occurred with a recent trainee soldier’s death during a training exercise, an Army official told local media Monday.

In a meeting with reporters, the unnamed official confirmed that there “had been a situation that was not in accordance with (military) regulation” during the exercise. The official refused to elaborate, saying the case was still under investigation by the police and the military.

According to the Army, the trainee soldier died Saturday while being treated at a civilian hospital, two days after collapsing at a unit in Inje, Gangwon Province, at around 5:20 p.m. on Thursday.

The deceased had been carrying out a training exercise that is not part of the regular program, conducted usually as a disciplinary action when the commander deems it necessary. A total of six soldiers took part in the said training, which involved them running laps around the grounds while fully equipped with their gear.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

An end of an era for the ROK Air Force:

A group of South Korean Cold War-era fighter aircraft staged one of their final flights last week ahead of retirement next month, bidding farewell after more than five decades of service.

The four F-4 Phantom IIs took off from their home base in Suwon, just south of Seoul, for the commemorative flight boarded by reporters on Thursday, retracing the supersonic fighter-bomber’s 55-year history in South Korea’s airspace.

The first batch of the U.S.-made jets arrived in South Korea in 1969, in a major boost to the Air Force that sought to beef up its aircraft fleet against threats posed by North Korea’s Soviet-made jets amid fierce rivalry between the two Koreas.

More than a half-century later, the Phantoms will be fully retired from service on June 7, handing over operations to defend the skies to a new generation of aircraft.

Yonhap via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

With all the cyber threats that South Korea faces this is probably a good exercise for them to take part in:

South Korea’s Cyber Operations Command will participate in a U.S.-led multinational cyber exercise this week to strengthen its capabilities to counter malicious cyber activities, Seoul’s defense ministry said Sunday, amid growing security threats from North Korea.

Nine personnel from the South’s military will join the Cyber Flag exercise to be held from Sunday through Saturday (local time) in the U.S. state of Virginia, according to the defense ministry.

The online exercise is designed to hone skills for multinational cooperation in countering cyberthreats and share intelligence against enemies’ cyber activities.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This sounds like a way for the Korean government to reduce Apple’s marketshare in Korea by imposing this ban because any smartphone is a possible recording device not just Apple phones:

South Korea’s military is considering a comprehensive ban on iPhones in military buildings due to increasing concerns about possible leaks of sensitive information through voice recordings, according to multiple military sources on Tuesday.

The sources, a group of ranking officers who wished to speak on condition of anonymity, said that the Air Force headquarters released an internal announcement on the military’s intranet server on April 11, instructing a complete prohibition on any device capable of voice recording and which do not permit third-party apps to control inherent functions, effective June 1, with “iPhones” cited as items subject to the ban.

According to the document, the decision to ban iPhones in the military came from joint meetings held by the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force, located at Gyeryongdae in South Chungcheong Province.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

With such short mandatory service times in Korea there is not much training V is going to receive to make him a very effective special operator. I wonder if he volunteered for this unit or the ROK military put him in it for publicity reasons?:

Photos of K-pop supergroup BTS member V in the gear of a counter-terrorism unit have been unveiled, a Facebook page on the South Korean military showed Thursday.

Images of V wearing pitch black Special Duty Team (SDT) attire were released Wednesday on the page, which serves as an anonymous bulletin board for military service members.

V enlisted in the military last December for his mandatory service and was accepted to join the military police during boot camp training, according to the Army.

The BTS member has since been assigned to the SDT, which focuses on counter-terrorism and other special operations, under the Army’s 2nd Corps.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

In response to North Korea’s recent provocations the ROK military is showcasing its homegrown missile defense system for the first time to the public:

It marked the first time the Air Force has unveiled the battalion’s drill involving the Cheongung-II to the press, although its specific name and location remains undisclosed to the public.

Integral to South Korea’s multilayered missile defense system, the Cheongung-II operates at a mid-tier altitude, complementing the U.S. missile shield. Lockheed Martin’s Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles defend against low-tier threats at altitudes of 20 km, and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) intercepts upper-tier threats at altitudes of 40-150 km. 

The unit is located within an hour’s drive from Seongju County, which is located about 160 km southeast of Seoul and is home to the THAAD system deployed in 2017. 

While the Cheongung-II is designed to counter ballistic missile threats and hostile aircraft, its capability of targeting cruise missiles has drawn new attention amid Pyongyang’s recent spate of cruise missile tests. 

“The Cheongung-II represents an advanced homegrown technology in countering both aircraft and ballistic missiles. Our training ensures that our forces are prepared to respond immediately, strongly and until the end,” Park said. 

The upgraded M-SAM Block-II comprises four mobile launchers, each loaded with eight missiles, enabling simultaneous engagement of up to 32 interceptors.

A multifunction radar is positioned atop a hill for uninterrupted 360-degree airspace surveillance, remotely sending signals to an engagement control center.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The make up of the ROK military will look a little different by 2030:

The number of soldiers coming from a multicultural background will account for 5 percent of the nation’s entire conscripts by 2030 after a notable increase since the 2009 amendment to the Military Service Act, which mandates military service for all Korean nationals, according to the report released by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Monday.

The report suggested that a growing number of conscripts from multicultural households could become a crucial resource in sustaining the military, helping address potential conscript shortages stemming from the country’s low birthrate. It raised the need for the military to establish and implement management and support policies tailored to multicultural soldiers.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This may be signaling that the ROK may be interested in developing their own nuclear submarines in the future:

Adm. Yang Yong-mo (R), chief of naval operations, poses for a photo with Rear Adm. Thomas Buchanan (L), the commander of Submarine Group 10, which oversees Ohio-class submarines at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia on Feb. 2, 2024, in this photo provided by the South’s Navy on Feb. 4.

South Korea’s top naval officer visited a key naval submarine base in the United States for the first time and stressed the need to strengthen ties against growing North Korean threats, the South’s Navy said Sunday.

Adm. Yang Yong-mo, chief of naval operations, visited the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, a southeastern coastal base home to key nuclear submarines, on Friday (local time), according to the Navy.

It marks the first time for a South Korean Navy chief to visit the base, which operates nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), a key U.S. strategic asset. SSBN is a sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad that also includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.