Tag: ROK military

It looks like if a young Korean person wants to have their college paid for, an ROTC scholarship is a very easy one to receive now:

Cadets of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) throw their hats in the air during a commencement and commissioning ceremony at the Army Cadet Military School in Goesan, North Chungcheong Province, Feb. 28. Newsis

The ROK military is facing a severe shortage in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) applicants as young people increasingly shun the junior officer position apparently because of pay rates and the long service periods.

According to the Army, the Korean Military Academy will announce an additional recruitment notice for ROTC candidates in August. The decision comes as the application rate for the ROTC program hit a record low this year, with the number of applicants falling short of the number of available spots. 

It is the first time the Army will seek additional recruitment processes for cadets since the ROTC system was introduced here in 1961. 

ROTC is a college-based officer commissioning program, under which cadets undergo physical and military education for four semesters and then serve for 24 to 36 months in the military after being commissioned.

There were about 16,000 ROTC applicants in 2016, but the figure steadily fell by 2,000 each year to mark 5,000 this year. The competition ratio, which stood at 4.8 to 1 in 2015, plunged to 2.4 to 1 in 2022. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I knew a ROK Air Force lieutenant who told me he went ROTC simply because he could guarantee going into the Air Force and receive better treatment compared to being a conscript. He said the extra time in service was worth the better treatment.

Here is an update on South Korea’s efforts to create a drone unit that can respond both offensively and defensively against North Korea:

South Korean military drones fly during joint drills with the United States at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, in this May 23 photo. The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday promulgated a decree for the launch of a multipurpose drone operations unit. AP-Yonhap

The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday promulgated a decree for the launch of a multipurpose drone operations unit as part of efforts to counter North Korea’s evolving air threats and to reinforce the capabilities that have become increasingly critical in modern warfare.

The declaration comes six months after President Yoon Suk Yeol told his military officials to create a command center for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strategies for both offensive and defensive missions.

The unit, which is expected to be established in September, will take direct orders from Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and take on reconnaissance, strike and other roles. Its presence in the military may well expand as its interoperability with other units improve, officials said.

But the location and leader of the unit have not been determined yet.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the city of Pocheon just north of Uijeongbu in Gyeongi province is one of the leading sites to base the new drone unit at.

To be fair South Korea is far from the only country with a vulnerability to drone strikes. Militaries around the world are all struggling to develop defenses against this new technology that is being used heavily on the battlefields in Ukraine:

An incursion of South Korean airspace by North Korean drones exposed Seoul’s lack of preparedness in defending against such threats, and it will likely take years for the military to correct its shortcomings, according to a classified U.S. intelligence assessment of the December incident.

The findings, outlined in a leak of U.S. secrets circulated on the Discord messaging platform and obtained by The Washington Post, spotlight the vulnerable state of South Korea’s air defense as its volatile neighbor’s aggressive development of a nuclear arsenal has Seoul and Washington on edge.

South Korea has prioritized its defenses to confront incoming missiles while investing heavily in growing its air and naval forces, but Seoul’s focus has come at the cost of neglecting other air defense needs, experts said — leaving the country vulnerable to a threat responsible for extensive carnage in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is one of these only in Korea stories:

South Korean police raided the Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a claim made by a former spokesperson for the ministry that a fortuneteller had been involved in the relocation of the presidential residence to Yongsan in central Seoul.

Investigators from the cyber bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were sent to confiscate evidence, including vehicle entry records, to determine if the fortuneteller had visited the ministry’s premises in Yongsan in advance.

Former Defense Ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan has claimed in a book that the fortuneteller was involved when Yoon was considering where to relocate the presidential residence and office in March last year.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but it should be easy to determine if this so called fortune teller was allowed to run around the Defense Ministry building with the video and vehicle records they have there. If they don’t find any evidence this will help with the libel complaints that the Yoon administration has lodged.

Could you imagine the amount of lawsuits if the U.S. had the same libel laws as South Korea? Cable news as we know it would have to end which would probably be a good thing.

It will be interesting to see how much these regulations will improve morale for troops eating in ROK military chow halls. I have eaten in ROK Army chow halls before and the food wasn’t bad, but if I had to eat it every day with no variety I can understand why Soldiers would complain:

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday announced a new food service modernization program for this year that meets more of soldiers’ preferences, so that they could enjoy more varied options at barracks starting from the next month.

The new plan seeks to end the previous military policy of providing meals to around 500,000 enlisted soldiers based on standardized menus and ingredients that were unilaterally imposed by the military authorities without considering soldiers’ predilections for food.

South Korean troops have so far designed a daily menu to meet the allocated amount of food ingredients that must be supplied to soldiers. For instance, the existing food service program mandates that a soldier should consume 8.84 grams of white radish, 1.54 grams of green pumpkin, and 3.41 grams of napa cabbage per day.

But the new policy — which will be implemented this April — enables military units to independently select menus to reflect the preferences of enlisted soldiers as long as meal plans cover their nutritional needs and are within budget.

The South Korean military will also renounce its mandatory consumption rate of livestock products. For instance, troops are currently required to allocate 15 percent of pork loin and 22 percent of pork foreleg when stir-frying pork.

But according to the new program, the units will be able to freely choose livestock products within the budget.

The frequency of providing unflavored milk, which is not popular among soldiers, will be reduced. The military will instead supply flavored milk products, soybean milk and juice to soldiers to reflect their preferences.

The South Korean troops will also be able to provide various brands of processed food products, including tofu, sugar, salt and cooking oil. Military units do not have the option to choose brands as only a single company is selected as a provider.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Great to see this proposed missile about to go into development, but this mobile launcher probably should have been developed many years ago:

South Korea plans to adopt a basic plan as early as next month to develop a new advanced guided missile capable of striking North Korean long-range artillery pieces hidden in caves, the state arms procurement agency said Sunday.

The envisioned missile will be an upgraded version of the Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile (KTSSM), which is dubbed the “long-range artillery killer,” according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

While the existing KTSSM system is operated on a fixed platform, the envisioned missile is expected to be run on a mobile launcher, which will enhance its maneuverability and survivability.

The current KTSSM has a range of 180 kilometers with its caliber at 400 millimeters. Its upgraded version is expected to be larger with a longer operational range of some 300 km.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It seems pretty extreme to conduct some of these self injuries to avoid military service. The mandatory service is not that bad to cripple yourself for the rest of your life to avoid:

A football player damaged his own wrist with heavy dumbbells. Another man even lost his hearing after subjecting his ears to loud horn sounds. Some others faked mental health conditions.

They all did so for the same purpose: dodging their compulsory military service. For many, the almost two years of service is a thankless task given to all able-bodied men born in South Korea, which is technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with only an armistice.

According to Military Manpower Administration data disclosed Tuesday by Rep. Song Gab-seok of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, 321 people have been caught making such attempts to evade conscription over the past five years.

Experts believe the real number of such draft-dodging cases, including those who did not get caught, is far greater. According to data released earlier this week by the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, a state-run research center, 335 young men were reported missing in 2021 just before they were to join the military. Nearly 1,800 such cases have occurred in the past four years.

The revelations come amid a widening investigation into the people suspected of offering money to a “consultant” surnamed Koo, who gave them tips on how to avoid military duty.

The broker has been indicted on charges of offering such information to seven people, who allegedly paid him and his accomplice, surnamed Kim, at least millions of won (thousands of dollars) per case. The first hearing on their charges will begin on Friday, with investigators expanding the probe into 100 people now.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is surprising that this doesn’t happen more around the THAAD base. The fact someone lost probably around a thousand dollars by losing their drone might deter others from trying this:

Military and police personnel resumed a search Wednesday for a presumed civilian drone thought to have crashed after flying near a U.S. THAAD missile defense unit in a southern county the previous day, officials said.

The authorities are conducting the search in areas close to the base in Seongju, 217 kilometers south of Seoul, while police are investigating who sent the drone and for what purpose.

The Army said chances appear low that the drone was mobilized for espionage. 

U.S. Forces Korea personnel are known to have first detected the drone flying toward the base at 12:54 p.m. Tuesday and used a jamming gun to bring it down, according to defense sources.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is good to see that the authorities are going after and arresting these brokers who are trying to get athletes out of completing their mandatory service:

South Korean men seek new options to avoid their two-year mandatory military service, and the number of draft dodgers continues to grow.

According to data provided by Rep. Song Gab-seok of the Democratic Party received from the Military Manpower Administration, 578 people were turned over to prosecution for intentional draft dodging from 2012 until Nov. 30 last year.

Recently, volleyball player Jo Jae-sung was charged with contacting a local military broker to help him show false symptoms of epilepsy during a military reexamination. He was then deemed unfit to serve as a soldier due to this fake health issue, allowing him to serve as a social service agent as an alternative form of service.

The broker he had come in contact with was arrested last month for violating the Military Service Act.

Professional athletes in the fields of soccer, horse riding and bowling are also under investigation for attempting draft evasion with the broker. The names of the others have not been revealed.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but if BTS can do their military service than these athletes can as well.