Tag: ROK military

I have always liked this idea of a combined division and it appears it will become a reality:

South Korea and the United States have agreed to establish a combined division of their troops next year that will be tasked with carrying out wartime operations, Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday.

The unit, slated to be organized in the first half of next year, will be comprised of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and a South Korean brigade-level unit, according to the ministry.

The 2nd Division commander plans to head the newly-made joint staff of the combined unit, with South Korea’s brigadier general-level officer to be its vice chief, the ministry said, adding that an equal number of dozens of service personnel from the two sides will form the leadership.

“While being operated in a separate fashion in peacetime, the 2nd Division and the Korean brigade will carry out joint exercises when necessary,” a ministry official said, asking not to be named.

In time of war, the two entities will get together to carry out diverse “strategic operations” such as eliminating weapons of mass destruction as well as civil missions against North Korea, he noted, without elaborating further.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the article says this will not impact the relocation of the 2ID to Camp Humphreys.  However, I wonder how it is going to impact the residual combat power in Area 1 that has long been discussed.

Two year ago the South Korean government tried to puchase the Global Hawks and was denied.  I guess if you fail once try, try again:

South Korea said Wednesday it is still seeking to buy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the United States despite Washington’s previous refusal to sell it the high-altitude spy plane. The defence ministry plans to acquire four Global Hawk UAVs by 2012, a spokesman told AFP. The 45-million-dollar craft can cruise at an altitude of 19,500 metres (more than 64,000 feet) for up to 42 hours and identify 30-centimetre (12-inch) objects on the ground.

South Korea is seeking the planes partly so it can keep a better watch over North Korea, as it takes over greater responsibility for its defence from its ally the United States.

But its request for the Global Hawks was rejected in 2005. The US says that the Missile Technology Control Regime, which covers the unmanned plane, should be revised first.

So why was the Global Hawks denied to South Korea two years ago you may ask?  Unsurprisingly, this is why:

The U.S. is thought to have rejected the request for fear that the core technology might be leaked. Some are known to be worried that confidential information collected on North Korea using the Global Hawk might be leaked to the North.

It is pretty much no secret in the military community that anything given or sold to South Korea ends up being leaked to the North and nothing in the last two years has changed this fact.  If anything trust between the US and Korea has decreased even more.

Look at who the US did sell the Global Hawk too:

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said, While continuously requesting the U.S to sell us the Global Hawk, we are also developing a domestic mid-altitude UAV system. However, the mid-altitude UAV system development will be possibly completed around 2015. On the other hand, Japan received consent to buy the Global Hawk last June, and it has already secured budgets and commenced preparations to introduce the Global Hawk into its system.

This is probably the main reason why South Korea wants the Global Hawk, simply because Japan has them.

I have posted before that the long term readiness of the ROK Army will be affected if the Korean government does not do more to professionalize the force.  I say this because in the past, completing your mandatory service in the ROK military was considered a gate you passed to become a man in Korean society.  People who did not do their national service were looked down upon.  Today though it is the complete opposite, mandatory service is something at best to be avoided.  What has changed this attitude so drastically over the course of only a decade?  First all living standards have increased where people don’t want to spend two years of their lives living in a cramped barracks getting beat down by superiors for a next to nothing pay check.  Secondly and most importantly in my opinion is that the youth being conscripted into the ROK military do not see the North Korean threat as a legitimate threat to the nation.  The progressives in the South Korean educational system have successfully indoctrinated an entire South Korean generation into the bogus belief that North Korea is just some misunderstood uncle that doesn’t mean any harm to South Korea.  Don’t believe me?  Then read this.

This announcement by the ROK military is at least one small baby step towards professionalizing the force if it comes to pass:

The military is considering hiring about 40,000 “salaried volunteer soldiers” between 2011 and 2020 to help overhaul the military conscription system, sources at the Defense Ministry said Monday.

Under the plan, those who volunteer to remain in the military for an additional year after their two-year mandatory service would be paid an annual salary of about 15 million won, they said.

The ministry initially announced that it would maintain about 20,000 salaried voluntary servicemen but is considering increasing the number to fill the possible manpower gap from the reduction in service period, the sources said.

The Defense Ministry needs these volunteers because of the national government’s plan to reduce national service from 24 months to 18 months for most conscriptees.  It is speculated the ruling party is doing this just to score political points in this year’s presidential election with Korea’s youth population, which is probably the case, but I like the possible unintended consequence of having the military recruit volunteers instead of relying on draftees.

The pay of approximately $15,000 for that extra year is actually pretty competitive with the pay of an American military E4 with 2 years of service which comes out to $20,976.  You consider the cheaper of cost of living in Korea and it is pretty much even.  Plus if living conditions and treatment of the soldiers improves this may be appealing to many youths.  However, a professional military requires budget increases, which many in the government don’t want to give:

“We are in close consultation with related government agencies about the increase in the salaried soldiers as an alternative to the cut in the service period,” a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. “But the budget planning agency now opposes it, citing the whopping additional budget required.”

The Ministry of Planning and Budget estimates that about 1.2 trillion won of additional budget on top of the 621 trillion of defense spending for the Defense Reform 2020 scheme would be required only for soldiers’ payment, he said.

That is why I dislike the draftee system because the politicians can keep getting away with sending over a billion dollars to North Korea while Korean youths for two years are treated no better than a Kaseong slave labor worker.  I find it ironic that the amount of money needed to fund this voluntary service program is nearly equal to the amount of money being sent to North Korea this year.  If Korean youths really wanted to make a difference in this next election they should vote for someone who is going to legitimately work to create an all volunteer military so no one will have to be conscripted in the first place instead of the demagogues looking to score cheap political points at the expensive of national security and the welfare of their citizens.

Rarely do I agree with anything from the Korea Times, but this editorial about the need to return Korean troops from Iraq is actually quite accurate and supports what I have been saying since the troops deployed:

First of all, there is not much for the Korean soldiers to do in Irbil, the Kurdish autonomous state. Contrary to some media stories, the local police, not Korean soldiers, are maintaining public security. The engineering corps of the Korean unit, called Zaytun, is bent on either maintaining Korean compounds or supervising construction works done by local firms. Its medical team has only dealt with the minor complaints of residents, according to soldiers and civilians familiar with the local situation.

We are not belittling the struggle of the Korean troops who are trying to contribute to a bilateral friendship and improve the nation’s image there. In sum, however, the Korean troops seem mostly to be killing time. The government’s keyword is safety, meaning Seoul wants to maximize the Korean troops’ stay and have minimum casualty. And their latest excuses for cementing Korea-U.S. ties are the ongoing negotiations to take over the wartime operational control and bargaining for the free trade agreement.

The Korea Times though just couldn’t help themselves and made sure in the last paragraph they took a cheap shot at the US:

After all, this has been an unjustifiable war from the start, as most U.S. analysts now point out. The time has long past for Korea to pull out from the war triggered by the U.S. invasion based on its own strategic interests. The only thing left is to make the process as smooth as possible.

Most people back in the 50’s thought the Korean War was not a justifiable war too ending Truman’s presidency and Eisenhauer being elected president because he promised to end the war, which he did with the ceasefire in 1953.  Plus who are “most US analysts”?  The ones leaking to the New York Times?

This is actually a good precedent, which more US allies should take advantage of:

For the first time, an entire South Korean military unit is being sent to the United States for a training exercise, Ministry of National Defense officials confirmed Thursday.

South Korea’s 24th Forces Chemical Battalion is headed to Maryland to train with the U.S. Army on eliminating weapons of mass destruction, MND spokesman Maj. Joo Myoung-soo confirmed Thursday.

Joo discounted local media reports claiming the training was connected to heightened tensions with North Korea following recent missile tests.

He said this type of training has been conducted several times, though it¿s the first time an entire unit is headed to the States. The goal is to exchange education and training programs between the allies, he said.

The US has great training facilities and US allies should take advantage of every opportunity to train with US forces that they can get.  Imagine going to the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA for example and your unit having to do link up and integration with a US allied military into your units war plan.  That is great training in itself much less the world class tactical training that training centers like the NTC specialize in.

Just another indication of how far the rift in the US-ROK alliance is growing:

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, military authorities requested the U.S. to sell it four Global Hawks in 2008 at last year’s SCC in Hawaii in order to secure independent surveillance ability on North Korea. Korea requested this several times. However, last June, the U.S. put out a not for sale policy and have rejected Korea’s requests.

So why would the US deny this system to our “blood allies” the South Koreans?  You shouldn’t have to think to hard:

The U.S. is thought to have rejected the request for fear that the core technology might be leaked. Some are known to be worried that confidential information collected on North Korea using the Global Hawk might be leaked to the North.

But look who the US is selling the system to:

The U.S. refusal to sell the Global Hawk has set back the South Korean’s military’s plan to introduce a high altitude UAV system until after 2010, and if the U.S. continually refuses, the whole system could fall apart.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said, While continuously requesting the U.S to sell us the Global Hawk, we are also developing a domestic mid-altitude UAV system. However, the mid-altitude UAV system development will be possibly completed around 2015. On the other hand, Japan received consent to buy the Global Hawk last June, and it has already secured budgets and commenced preparations to introduce the Global Hawk into its system.

You can read more at the link.

On the eve of his second trip to Korea coming up on the 27th of May, Hines Ward had some more to say about racism in Korea:

American football star Hines Ward, whose mother is Korean, has told a U.S. newspaper of the disturbing prejudice he encountered against mixed-race children during his recent triumphal visit to Korea. “You can’t even get into the military if you’re biracial,” the footballer, who is half Korean, said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That is their rule, 100 percent pure, you have to be pure Korean, it’s the only way to be in the military. The writer, Ed Bouchette, said Ward returned with a new mission to help biracial children in Korea.

The ROK Army now does accept bi-racial children; a development from the first Hines Ward trip, but no biracial children have signed up yet because first of all the ROK Army is not fun for pure blooded Koreans much less bi-racial Koreans.  I wonder if Ward will receive the same lovefest that he received during his first trip to Korea last month or is his 15 minutes of fame in Korea up?

At least someone besides USFK remembers the sacrifice of Major Yun Yeong-ha and his men during the West Sea naval clash between North and South Korea back in 2002. The naval battle was a pre-meditated ambush and murder of these sailors by the North Koreans that was alledgedly order by Pyongyang in order to draw attention away from the World Cup that was happening in South Korea at the time.

The South Korean government has done everything possible to cover up this ambush and make excuses for the North Koreans in order to keep the Sunshine Policy going. In fact the government has boycotted memorial services held by the navy to remember the six murdered sailors:

A remembrance celebration to mark the second anniversary of the battle was held yesterday at the headquarters of the Naval 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, with 150 people including victims¿ families participating. However, the event was dismally lonely, and more distressing, the bereaved families despairingly poured out questions in full cry to this society and the government.

Did the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea launched an investigation to find out facts as it does now when the West Sea naval battle broke out? Who apologized for the death of our boys? People, irrespective of rank, have been successively rushing to deliver condolence for a man who went to a foreign country to earn money and died there. But who went to the funeral services of the six sailors who sacrificed their lives for the nation? Even the Defense Minister and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as government officials did not attend the services.

Here is a sample of how angered the families of these sailors have been towards the Korean government:

Kim Jong-seon, the widow of Petty Officer Han Sang-guk, who was killed in a June 2002 naval battle with North Korea in the West Sea, turned her back on her homeland Sunday and boarded a flight bound for the United States. Before getting on her flight, she said, ¿If the indifference and inhospitality shown to those soldiers who were killed or wounded protecting the nation continue, what soldier will lay down his life in the battlefield?¿

In the battle on June 29, 2002 — one day prior to the closing ceremony of the Korea-Japan World Cup — six sailors were killed and 18 wounded when a North Korean patrol boat that had crossed over the northern line of control ambushed a South Korean naval vessel. The bereaved have spent the last three years in an atmosphere where it was difficult to even grieve. Nervous government officials, worrying that the incident might cast a pall over the Sunshine Policy, even warned the families to please be quiet.

(…..)

The father said, ¿My son is buried in the National Cemetery. But I¿m going to take my son¿s remains to my family burial site in my hometown.¿ Having watched the situation develop, he thought his son who was killed by North Korean soldiers was considered nothing more than a criminal. Some parents said that they are more scared of people who consider the U.S. a bigger enemy than North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who killed their son. We lose courage to defend the country, when we hear that a wife whose husband fell in the battle is preparing to leave this country. Reading a condolence letter from the USFK commander to mark the second anniversary, the wife said, “The Americans remember my husband and his brothers-in-arms better than Koreans… Frankly, I hate Korea.”

The treatment of the families and the appeasement of North Korea after the murder of these sailors was the first indications of how poor a government the Roh Moo-hyun administration was going to be. Plus this incident is a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the Korean leftists. They have been protesting for years over the USFK tactical vehicle traffic accident that tragically killed two Korean girls despite compensation to the families and apologies up and down the chain of command to include President Bush himself over the accident. Yet not one word muttered against North Korea by these people when they murder six South Korean sailors.

At least the ROK Navy has the intestinal fortitude to remember the sacrifices of these sailors. The ROK Navy has been the ones holding the annual ceremony marking the anniversary of the attack plus they have recently named one of their newest destroyers after the senior officer killed in the clash, Major Yun Yeong-ha.

The ROK naval destroyers are only named after great Korean patriots (Hat tip: reader):

All Ahn Yong-Bok class destroyers are named after Korean patriots. The first vessel destroyer was recently named Ahn Yong-Bok (Hangul:¿¿¿) after a Korean patriot who protested over Tokugawa Shogunate‘s repeated claim over Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima) and made Tokugawa Shogunate confirm in writing that Liancourt Rocks were Korean possessions. The second destroyer is to be named Ji Deok-Chil (Hangul:¿¿¿), after Staff Sergeant Ji Deok-Chil, who sacrificed his life to save his comrades during the Vietnam war. The third unit is to be named Yun Yeong-Ha (Hangul:¿¿¿), after Major Yun Yeong-Ha who fell in line of duty during a skirmish between the Republic of Korea Navy force and North Korean Navy. The fourth destroyer is to be named for General Yi Sabu of Silla dynasty of Korea, who subjugated Usan-Guk (present-day Ulleung-do) by employing brilliant naval tactics. The fifth and sixth destroyers are yet to be named.

I wonder how this got by the Blue House? To bad all six destroyers weren’t named after all six of the deceased sailors.

From Yonhap:

South Korea on Thursday launched its fifth 4,000-ton-class destroyer with a radar-evading “stealth” function here amid a fanfare of trumpets and fireworks as sailors celebrated the new addition to their fleet.

The 4,200-ton ship, equipped with a range of sophisticated weapons systems, was set afloat in a shipyard on the country’s second-largest island, about 406 kilometers south of Seoul.

(…)

The new destroyer, which has camouflage and stealth coatings on its surface, is equipped with SM-II ship-to-air missiles, Harpoon
anti-ship missiles, RAM-guided supersonic missiles and other naval guns as well as two anti-submarine Super Lynx helicopters, according to Navy officials. It can sail at a maximum speed of 30 knots per hour.

Cool boat, but what would Korea use it for? To sneak up on Japanese fishermen?

The ROK Army apparently wants to become more Americanized by relying on hi-tech weapon systems and volunteer forces to down size their military:

A major battle is underway in South Korea, between the government and the army. At issue is a proposed reorganization of the armed forces. The politicians, and most of the voters, believe it is inevitable that the communist government in North Korea will eventually collapse, and no longer be a threat. The reform plan, which has been in the works for years, will take fifteen years to complete. But by 2020 the army would have six corps instead of 13, twenty divisions instead of 47 and 26 percent fewer troops (500,000 instead of 680,000). The reserves would be reduced even more, from 3 million to 1.5 million. Conscription would not be eliminated, but it would be used less. The army would provide higher pay for the Special Forces (sort of like the U.S. Rangers), to encourage volunteers. Conscripts who wanted to make the army a career, would immediately receive much higher pay once they agreed to stay in, when their conscription service was over. Ultimately, an all-volunteer forces would be preferred. But right now, that would cost too much money.

I have been reporting for a while that the ROK Army cannot in the long term remain a conscripted force due to the changes in Korean society. Before, mandatory service was looked at as serving your country and as being the last gate to pass before you became a real man. Now it is at best something to be avoided. Korea’s younger generation has more important things to do like go to college, work and earn more money than what they would make in the ROK Army, talk on their cell phones, and let’s not forget play Starcraft. These are all activities mandatory services cuts into.

Here is something interesting:

The reform also includes turning the coast guard into a police organization, and stationing specially trained brigades to watch the DMZ, rather than combat divisions full of conscripts. The special DMZ brigades would contain more volunteers, and be able to cover the DMZ using fewer troops (and more robots and high-tech sensors.) The reforms also include greater use of precision missiles, rockets and bombs. One of the proposals is to organize missiles and MLRS units (firing GPS guided rockets) into a separate organization.

The ROK Army is looking at forming an all volunteer force to patrol the DMZ? This will be a tough sell to get people to volunteer for this duty. Much of the DMZ is remote and rugged terrain without much creature comforts. I hope the ROK Army plans on also greatly modernizing the military facilities along the DMZ as well.

Here is why the ROK Army thinks Americanizing their force will work:

In all, the reforms want to make the armed forces smaller and more lethal. In this respect, the reformers have been much influenced by the American experience with volunteer troops and high-tech. American combat units have been stationed in South Korea for over half a century, so South Koreans have been able to observe the changes in the American army since the draft was eliminated three decades ago. The South Koreans have also been impressed by the American performance in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. South Korean units that train with American troops have also experienced these changes up close. The better trained, and now combat experienced, U.S. soldiers are clearly better at fighting. So, the South Koreans are headed in that direction. It’s expected that many of the current generals will fight the reforms, if only because the smaller army (a 36 percent cut, to 350,000 troops) will mean fewer jobs for senior officers.

This is going to be a huge fight with the brass of the ROK Army, but currently the ROK Army generals have little influence with the current ruling government and they have little prestige with the Korean public due to past military dictatorships and current corruption scandals. The brass will lose on this issue and the ROK Army will probably be better off for it.