Tag: ROK military

It sounds like BTS is going to have easier mandatory military service than even most KATUSAs have, but at least they are doing their service unlike others who have found ways out of it:

Members of K-pop super group BTS will be able to participate in “national” events for the “public good” even while serving in the military, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

Col. Moon Hong-sik, the ministry’s acting spokesperson, made the remarks a day after Big Hit Music, the band’s agency, said all BTS members will fulfill their military service, starting with the eldest member, Jin.

“Our position is that we will provide an opportunity if they wish to participate when there is a national-level event for the public good or an event designed in light of the national interest,” Moon told a regular press briefing.

He added that such an opportunity can be granted to other service members under current regulations. 

Earlier this month, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup told a parliamentary audit that BTS members will be able to join even overseas performances during their military service.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This will be pretty significant if the prosecutors succeed in arresting the former ROK Defense Minister over the death of the fishery official by the North Koreans two years ago:

 Prosecutors sought arrest warrants Tuesday for former Defense Minister Suh Wook and former Coast Guard Commissioner General Kim Hong-hee in an investigation into the previous administration’s handling of the 2020 death of a fisheries official at the hands of North Korea.

The two are facing various charges, including dereliction of duty, abuse of power and creating false official documents in connection with the Moon Jae-in administration’s conclusion without sufficient evidence that the fisheries official was killed while attempting to defect to the North.

Critics have accused the Moon administration of drawing the conclusion to curry favor with Pyongyang.

Prosecutors suspect Suh deliberately erased intelligence reports that suggest the official, Lee Dae-jun, did not intend to defect, and ordered officials to write false facts for a report for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kim — who was responsible for an investigation into the death at the time — is under suspicion of using fabricated facts to conclude that Lee had intended to defect.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Considering how many other celebrities have completed their mandatory military service it is only fair that BTS completes their service obligations as well:

All members of K-pop supergroup BTS will go to the military to fulfill mandatory service, starting with the oldest member Jin, the band’s agency said Monday.

“Jin will revoke his request to delay his conscription at the end of this month and will follow conscription procedures required by the Military Manpower Administration,” Big Hit Music said in a public notice to the local bourse. “Other members will fulfill their military duty in turn according to their individual plans.”

Jin, born in 1992, had his conscription delayed till the end of this year under the Military Service Act revised in 2020.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for about two years. But the current law allows global award-winning athletes and classical musicians recommended by the minister of culture, sports and tourism to do alternative services in their respective fields instead of serving in active military duty.

Bills that would include globally recognized male pop culture artists, like BTS, in the program are still pending at the National Assembly amid a lingering debate over whether the K-pop giant should get exemptions in recognition of its contribution to improving the country’s brand image.

With Monday’s decision, the septet will pause working together as a group for the time being.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but BTS is expected to rejoin as a musical group in 2025 when everyone should have their mandatory military service completed.

The ROK military was fortunate no one was hurt or killed by the is missile malfunction:

A Hyunmoo-2 short-range ballistic missile malfunctioned and crashed shortly after being launched from a South Korean military base late Tuesday night during a joint drill by South Korea and the United States, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).  
   
The drill was a response to North Korea’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM)on Tuesday morning.  
   
In its initial 7 a.m. press release, the JCS said that South Korea and the United States each launched two U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) surface-to-surface missiles beginning at 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday, which accurately hit mock targets and demonstrated the allies’ capability to deter further provocations.    (….)

The press release made no mention of a South Korean-made Hyunmoo-2 missile fired more than an hour earlier, which crashed almost immediately after its launch.  
   
Residents around the eastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon, reported a fire and a loud explosion close to the location of the 18th Fighter Wing Air Base at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night. Reports of the joint drill were embargoed until 5 a.m. Wednesday.  
   
Images uploaded to social media by local residents showed an orange fireball.  
   
The South Korean military was forced to issue a clarification about the Hyunmoo-2’s crash-landing after reports of the explosion spread.  
   
“Immediately after its launch, the missile flew inland instead of toward the sea and abnormally landed on a golf course on the base at a location approximately 700 meters (765 yards) from a civilian residential area,” said a military official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity, implying the missile’s trajectory had been intended for the East Sea.  
   
“The flames (the residents saw) were not from the warhead exploding, but rather from the propellant burning,” he added. “There was no damage to civilians nearby as the missile crashed within the base immediately after the launch.”   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but it appears the ROK military may have tried to keep news of this accident quiet until the social media frenzy became enough they had to issue a statement. This is definitely an embarrassing accident for the ROK military to have happen to them right after North Korea conducts their longest successful ballistic missile test yet.

It is good to see the ROK military continuing to take advantage of the world class training offered at the National Training Center:

About 150 South Korean Army commandoes will leave for the United States later this month for joint training with the U.S. Army at the National Training Center (NTC) in California, officials said Sunday.

The special forces troops from a front-line Army corps will conduct joint exercises at the Fort Irwin training center for about a month as part of an annual training program the two countries have carried out since 2020 to establish a firm readiness posture.

It was the second time this year the two countries have held joint exercises at the NTC after some 100 officers from the Army’s Special Warfare Command staged special warfare exercises with the U.S. military at the training ground between June and July.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is good to see this change in tone from the ROK military:

 South Korea’s top military officer said Monday the country’s missile forces are capable of dealing a “fatal” blow to a potential enemy, in an apparent message of deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

In a meeting with reporters, new Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum commented on his visit last week to a unit of the Army Missile Strategic Command, which he said was designed to deliver such a warning.

“As North Korea has undertaken various strategic provocations and is threatening the Republic of Korea … I thought I should send a different message to the enemy,” Kim said, referring to South Korea by its official name.

“Missiles that our Republic of Korea possesses are at a considerable level. I thought (the visit) carried and should carry a warning message that (South Korea) is capable of sending a fatal blow to the enemy,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.