Category: US-ROK Alliance

It looks like Key Resolve and UFG exercises could be coming back:

President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed Saturday to begin discussions on expanding joint military exercises between the two countries amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

The two reached the agreement during their first summit in Seoul, which took place as both countries believed a nuclear test or intercontinental ballistic missile launch from the North was imminent and could even happen while Biden was touring the region.

“Both leaders agree to initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean Peninsula,” a joint statement on the summit said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this news will assuredly be used as an excuse for North Korea to conduct a provocation on some kind.

This claim has long been hinted by Trump himself due to the cost sharing issue with South Korea. Trump wanted the ROK to pay more for USFK which the Moon administration declined to do. The media now is trying to sell this as a new story when it is actually an old one:

Mark Esper, the former secretary of Defense under President Trump, says that the former president proposed a number of “outlandish” foreign policy proposals while he was in the White House, including pulling troops out of South Korea and shutting down embassies in Africa, according to an excerpt from Esper’s upcoming memoir.

In a new excerpt, shared by Politico, Esper wrote that shortly after he was hired to be the new Pentagon chief in 2019, Trump was railing against NATO and corruption in Ukraine, two personal issues that the rest of the national security and foreign policy team tried to tamp down because they weren’t considered leading concerns at the time.

Trump also said he wanted a “complete withdrawal” of forces from South Korea and that he wished to “bring our people home” from embassies in Africa, according to Esper.

The Hill

You can read more at the link.

The big news here is not that the Yoon administration may be stepping back from wanting an additional THAAD battery; it is the fact they want to improve access to the existing site:

 South Korea’s foreign minister nominee stressed the need Monday for “in-depth” deliberations on whether to deploy additional U.S.-made THAAD missile defense systems here, in an apparent sign of cautiousness on the geopolitically charged issue.

During his confirmation hearing, Park Jin responded to a lawmaker’s question about President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign pledge to bring in more THAAD systems, which opponents say would undermine ties with China, South Korea’s top trade partner.

China has opposed Korea’s hosting of the THAAD system, arguing the anti-missile asset undermines its security interests. The installation of a THAAD battery here in 2017 triggered apparent Chinese economic retaliation.

Yonhap

Here is the part where he discusses the existing THAAD battery:

Despite his cautious stance, Park highlighted the “first task” of ensuring U.S. Forces Korea can normally operate its THAAD unit in the southeastern county of Seongju.

Since the THAAD battery was installed here, it has been in the status of “temporary installation” pending South Korea’s environmental impact assessment.

“I think that there needs to be an environment for the normal operation of the THAAD battery, as access to the unit has been restricted, while living conditions for troops there are also poor,” he said.

You can read more at the link, but the current Moon administration has allowed protesters to block the road since the THAAD battery was put in, which causes daily logistical support to the site to be conducted by helicopter. Only when materials that cannot be moved by helicopter need to be brought in does the police open the road. I have always been concerned that over an extended period of time this could increase the chances of a helicopter crash happening.

Here is some increased messaging of unity within the US-ROK alliance:

 Top South Korean and U.S. military officers on Thursday boarded a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sailing in the East Sea, sources said, in a rare move to highlight the allies’ unity amid concerns about possible North Korean provocations.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and Gen. Paul LaCamera, the head of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, met aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier that arrived in the waters earlier this week in a show of America’s military might.

Their symbolic meeting came amid speculation that the North could engage in provocative acts, like another intercontinental ballistic missile launch or a nuclear test, in time for its key political events, including the 110th birthday of its late national founder Kim Il-sung on Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

That is pretty bad when China is outpolled by North Korea is a survey like this. Additionally these survey results give a mandate to incoming President Yoon’s agenda to strengthen ties with the U.S.:

Nearly 87% of South Koreans think their country ought to develop closer ties to the United States than to any other nation, according to a poll released Monday.

The survey found 86.8% of respondents believe Seoul should develop closer economic, foreign and security policy ties with Washington. The Federation of Korean Industries commissioned the poll, which was conducted March 24-28.

Just 5% of respondents said North Korea ought to be the top partner with South Korea, and 3.2% said China. The European Union was cited by 2.1%, and 1.4% said Japan.

The poll surveyed 1,000 people and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. The federation, an association of large businesses, seeks to “promote sound economic policies,” according to its website.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I think this survey says more about China than the U.S. because is demonstrates the level of distrust many South Koreans have with the CCP. It would be interesting if this same poll was conducted in multiple countries in the region to see if similar results are found.

The U.S. and ROK militaries will work to update OPLAN’s that reflect the changes in capabilities the North Koreans have demonstrated with their nuclear and missile programs:

 The top military officials of South Korea and the United States have signed a document directing the update of joint wartime contingency plans, Seoul officials said Thursday, following North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch last week.

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, inked the Strategic Planning Directive (SPD) during their talks in Hawaii on Wednesday (local time), according to South Korea’s JCS.

The SPD signing is bound to accelerate a previously agreed-upon process to rewrite the allies’ wartime operation plans (OPLANs).

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is a good story about how 2ID Soldiers are preparing ROK military Cadets for an international skills competition being held at West Point:

Braving subzero temperatures, 10 South Korean Army cadets slogged through this week’s U.S.-led field training designed to gear them up for an annual international military academy contest slated for April.

The three-day training at Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, centered on honing their warrior capabilities in the runup to the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. 

But for the trainees, it also offered a rare foretaste of the unity — a pivotal element that has glued South Korea and the United States together in their alliance forged during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-US Combined Division, a unique unit emblematic of the alliance, trained the cadets through Thursday under a resonant rallying cry: “Second to None, Fight Tonight.” ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea.

“It took some time to get the hang of different rules and stuff here, but U.S. instructors and other officers have been forthcoming and helpful,” Jang Su-hae, a freshman at the Korea Military Academy (KMA), said on the last day of the training open to the media. “I think this experience has had a positive effect on us in light of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Moon administration is in desperation mode to get a Korean War peace treaty signed before they office this Spring:

It is the right time to declare an end to the Korean War, as an unprecedentedly favorable environment for the implementation of the declaration has been set up among relevant countries, according to Unification Minister Lee In-young.

In this regard, he also believes the first half of the year could be a “golden time” to make strides in frayed inter-Korean ties and stalled nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States, citing a heap of political events in the second half of the year that could disrupt efforts toward Pyongyang-related issues. 

Strongly believing such an agreement could serve as a catalyst for negotiations on the denuclearization of North Korea, President Moon Jae-in resurrected his proposal of declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 conflict in a speech at the United Nations last September. 

Since then, South Korean and U.S. diplomats have been meeting frequently with each other to discuss the proposal, while National Security Director Suh Hoon also drew support from China following a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in December.

Korea Times

Look at what some people want to give up to North Korea to entice them to meet to discuss a peace treaty that is a favorable action towards them anyway:

The lasting silence is fueling speculation that Seoul and Washington should offer something to entice North Korea into responding to the end-of-war issue, and the suspension of combined military drills and partial sanctions relief are being mentioned as possible incentives among others.

You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans want this peace treaty in order to question the legitimacy of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. If there is peace why are U.S. troops and by extension the UN Command needed?

If the Kim regimes wants a peace treaty they should agree to actions that actually makes it look like they want peace. For example removing all their artillery off of the DMZ would show the seriousness of their peace overtures. If they want peace why do they need artillery to target Seoul and other metropolitan areas?

This is a great program to thank U.S. military veterans that served in South Korea:

Nine U.S. veterans, who served in Korea following the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War, revisited the country last month along with their family members.

The revisit program, the first of its kind by the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) and the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation, was sponsored by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA). 

A total of 16 people made the five-day trip to Korea starting Nov. 29, visiting the Joint Security Area, Camp Casey, Camp Humphreys and Osan Air Base, where they served, according to the KDVA. 

Additionally, they participated in the ROK-U.S. Alliance Night in Seoul, co-hosted by Defense Minister Suh Wook and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Wednesday. ROK is an acronym for the Republic of Korea.

“I am honored to revisit Korea 30 years later since I served in Korea in 1991. I miss my old base, Camp Greaves, in the north of the Imjin River. It is closed now. But I cannot forget my days in Korea, and I am very proud of how advanced the ROK has become in the world, and think my service here was very valuable,” said Kevin Miller from Pennsylvania. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.