Category: US-ROK Alliance

Good luck with enforcing sanctions on North Korea as long as they share land borders with China and Russia who will continue to enable them:

South Korea and the United States have launched a task force to effectively block North Korea from financing its unlawful nuclear and missile programs, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. bilateral Enhanced Disruption Task Force was held at Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (local time) with over 30 officials in areas of diplomacy, intelligence, sanctions and maritime interdiction, according to the ministry.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to counter illicit efforts by North Korea to circumvent sanctions concerning the procurement of refined petroleum, stressing that importing refined oil in excess of the U.N.-mandated cap violates U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

They also highlighted the need for close cooperation to counter the North’s ability to procure petroleum, including from Russia, saying it directly contributes to the reclusive country’s military readiness and its weapons development.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another March is coming up which means another major US-ROK military exercise:

Col. Lee Sung-jun, left, the spokesperson for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, bumps fists with his U.S. counterpart Col. Isaac Taylor, the U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson, during a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

South Korea and the United States will conduct their annual Freedom Shield exercise from March 4 to 14 to strengthen their combined defensive posture against North Korea’s escalating threats, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, Wednesday.

During a press briefing, the JCS said the 11-day non-stop exercise will be “a realistic exercise to strengthen the allies’ combined defense capabilities based on scenarios reflecting diverse security threats and lessons learned from recent wars.”

“It will be focusing on conducting multi-domain operations, using land, sea, air, cyber and space assets as well as countering North Korea’s nuclear operations,” the JCS said.

Freedom Shield is a large-scale combined military exercise between the allies held annually in March. In August, the allies also conduct the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which is held jointly with the South Korean government’s interagency training called Ulchi Exercise.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but expect North Korea to conduct their own provocations in response to the Freedom Shield exercise.

Just another sign of how far the ROK’s defense industry has come that now even the U.S. is interested in procurement:

The U.S. Defense Department has started a process to solicit industry feedback on its pursuit of a defense procurement agreement with South Korea to allow easier access to each other’s market amid growing security uncertainties from North Korean threats and other challenges.

Last week, the department posted a notice in the Federal Register to request public comments on the pursuit of a new Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) Agreement with South Korea through March 25.

Seoul and Washington have been seeking to sign the agreement as President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden committed to strengthening partnerships in defense-sector supply chains and beginning talks on the agreement during their summit in April last year.

“The purpose of an RDP Agreement is to promote rationalization, standardization, interchangeability and interoperability of conventional defense equipment with allies and other friendly governments,” the department said in the notice.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is probably a smart move by the ROK to complete cost sharing negotations before any potential of Donald Trump being elected President. During his prior presidency he put enormous pressure on the ROK to pay more for the upkeep of USFK:

Korea and the United States have agreed to begin talks on their next deal on defense cost sharing earlier than planned, sources said, Jan. 16. Yonhap

Korea and the United States have agreed to begin talks on their next deal on defense cost sharing earlier than planned, sources said Tuesday, a move that appears to consider the possible reelection of former U.S. President Donald Trump, known for his tough bargaining on such deals.

The allies have reached an understanding to start the negotiations on sharing the costs for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), this year, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the matter.

The early talks, if launched, will come nearly two years ahead of the original schedule for the deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), currently in effect until the end of 2025 under a six-year term.

Seoul and Washington signed the SMA for 2020-26 in April 2021 after 1 1/2 years of tough haggling over how much Seoul should pay for the stationing of the USFK on its soil, as the then Trump administration had called for a sharp increase in Seoul’s share.

The early launch of the defense cost-sharing talks appear to have taken into account the possibility of Trump returning to the White House if he wins the November presidential vote.

During his term in office, Trump accused the allies of relying on the U.S. for their defense and called them “free riders” who “rip off” America. Some media had reported that Trump demanded Seoul pay $5 billion for its share, more than a fivefold increase from 2019.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Trilateral exercises between the U.S., ROK, and Japan are becoming very normalized which is a good thing:

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (L) meets Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, commander of carrier strike group one, (R) during his visit to the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docked in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Nov. 22, 2023, in this photo provided by the defense ministry.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said Wednesday South Korea plans to hold joint maritime drills with the United States and Japan involving a U.S. aircraft carrier to bolster military readiness and show their resolve against North Korea’s provocations.

Shin visited the USS Carl Vinson, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently docked in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, a day after North Korea claimed it successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit in its third launch following two failed attempts earlier this year. 

“North Korea’s spy satellite launch last night clearly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban missile launches using ballistic missile technology and is a provocative act that hampers the national security,” Shin said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Yet another example of increasing military cooperation between the ROK and Japan and this is a good thing:

(L to R) South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik; Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense; and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara hold trilateral talks on Nov. 12, 2023, in this photo provided by Seoul’s defense ministry. Minoru joined the session in Seoul via a video link. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Sunday to launch a real-time missile warning data sharing system next month to better detect and assess North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

The defense chiefs of the three nations reached the agreement during their meeting on the occasion of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Seoul for annual bilateral security talks with his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, slated for Monday. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara joined the trilateral session via a video link.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I did not know that a B-52 has never landed a ROK airbase before:

A U.S. strategic bomber B-52 is set to land in a South Korean air base this week, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday, in the latest show of force against North Korea’s missile and nuclear threat.

It would mark the first time that the B-52 Stratofortress has landed at a South Korean air base although the long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons flew over the Korean Peninsula for joint drills between South Korea and the United States.

The B-52 is one of the major U.S. strategic bombers along with the B-2 Spirit and B-1B Lancer, which landed at Osan Air base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, in September 2016.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder how many of these people surveyed even know the U.S. has troops already deployed to South Korea? This means there is no question the U.S. is getting involved to defend South Korea from attack regardless of what this poll says:

This photo, taken on Sept. 1, 2023, shows U.S. troops engaging in combined drills with South Korean forces in Jangseong, 252 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Half of U.S. citizens favor using American troops to defend South Korea in the event of a North Korean invasion, a recent U.S. poll showed Thursday, underscoring the public polarization over the security issue.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs recently released the outcome of the 2023 Chicago Council Survey conducted by Ipsos, a market research firm, from Sept. 7-18. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. 

The poll found that 50 percent of those questioned supported the idea of committing U.S. troops to defend South Korea if it was invaded by the North, while 49 percent opposed it.

In previous surveys conducted in 2020, 2021 and last year, the percentages of those backing the idea were 58 percent, 63 percent and 55 percent, respectively.

In the latest poll, a majority of Americans — 57 percent — continued to favor the mobilization of U.S. troops if Russia invaded a Baltic NATO state namely Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia, and an even higher proportion — 64 percent — favored the use of U.S. troops if Germany were invaded by Russia.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here are some names I haven’t heard in a while congratulating the ROK on the 70th anniversary of the US-ROK Alliance:

This file photo, taken Sept. 26, 2013, shows then U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. James D. Thurman at the Cheong Wa Dae presidential office in central Seoul. (Yonhap)

A group of former commanders of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) on Wednesday hailed the alliance between South Korea and the United States ahead of its 70th anniversary next week, highlighting the two countries’ commitment to each other.

The six retired generals made the remarks in separate messages sent to the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation as the two countries are set to mark the anniversary of the 1953 signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty, a bedrock alliance document, Sunday.

The messages were sent by Ret. Gen. Thomas A. Schwartz, Ret. Gen. B. B. Bell, Ret. Gen. Walter L. Sharp, Ret. Gen. James D. Thurman, Ret. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti and Ret. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks.

Thurman, who served as the USFK commander from 2011 to 2013, described the treaty as the “glue” that kept the two countries together and expressed hopes for a reunited Korea.

“The mutual defense treaty between South Korea and the United States has remained the glue that has held the ROK-US Alliance together,” Thurman said, referring to South Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Republic of Korea.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.