May 14th, 2013 at 5:01 am » Comments (3)

I think that South Korea would experience the same problem that Taiwan is currently experiencing if it fully professionalized its force.  However, this should not stop South Korea in my opinion from professionalizing more of its military even though they could likely never completely do away with mandatory service as long as the North Korean threat remains: A Taiwanese plan to end mandatory military service and shift to an all-volunteer force is running into a problem: not enough volunteers. Such forces are generally considered superior to conscripted ones, because those
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May 7th, 2013 at 5:50 am » Comments (10)

The ROK military is presuming the leak came from them, but it could have come from a governmental source or maybe the Chinese had knowledge of the carrier’s arrival and told them? The South Korean military is investigating a possible security leak after North Korea on Sunday alluded to the imminent arrival of the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz in Busan this week. An initial check shows that there had been no announcement by either Seoul or Washington about the plan, and no press reports in either country. A military source
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April 23rd, 2013 at 4:33 am » Comments (2)

It looks like the North Koreans may have been sending a message to the ROK Defense Minister who is a frequent target of North Korean propaganda and vitrol: SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) — A suspicious white powder sent to the South Korean defense minister on Tuesday turned out to be wheat flour and an investigation was underway to determine who was behind the act, military officials said. Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin received a parcel containing a threatening letter and white powder, in what the ministry called
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April 10th, 2013 at 1:06 pm » Comments (0)

An early warning Peace Eye aircraft is about to land at a military airport in Gimhae City, South Gyeongsang Province, on April 10, 2013, after completing an air mission earlier in the day amid imminent signs of North Korea launching mid- and short-range missiles. South Korea and the United States have upgraded their surveillance of North Korea as Pyongyang is believed to have completed preparations after it moved two Musudan mid-range missiles to its east coast. The South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command raised “Watchcon” 3 status, a normal defense condition,
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March 22nd, 2013 at 8:44 am » Comments (0)

This is probably something the Park Administration should have considered initially in order to ensure good continuity in the Defense Department during a time of heightened tensions, such as what President Obama did by keeping Robert Gates as the US Defense Secretary when he took over in 2008: Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, who will stay in office under President Park Geun-hye after the resignation of the nominee for his successor, faces an escalation of troubles in handling North Korea as the recalcitrant neighbor is stepping up its missile and nuclear
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March 13th, 2013 at 1:47 pm » Comments (3)

President Park Geun-hye (6th from R) cheers with newly commissioned officers during a joint officer commissioning ceremony of South Korea’s army, air force and naval academies at the Gyeryongdae military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 8, 2013. (Yonhap)

March 7th, 2013 at 2:19 am » Comments (6)

Hopefully we do not have to find out if the good General means what he says, but considering North Korea’s track record I would not be surprised to see a provocation of some sort in the near future to test the new President Park Geun-hye: Major Gen. Kim Yong-hyun, who heads the operations team of the South Korean Joint Chiefs, just warned that if North Korea launches a provocation, not only would the South retaliate against the source of the provocation and support units, but also against command elements. And
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February 14th, 2013 at 4:46 am » Comments (6)

The South Koreans are showing off their new cruise missile technology to the North Koreans in response to the recent nuclear test: South Korea unveiled a cruise missile on Thursday that it said can hit the office of North Korea’s leaders, trying to address concerns that it is technologically behind its unpredictable rival which this week conducted its third nuclear test. South Korean officials declined to say the exact range of the missile but said it could hit targets anywhere in North Korea. The Defence Ministry released video footage of
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February 12th, 2013 at 8:01 pm » Comments (8)

Like Gangnam Style that came before it, the ROK Air Force is getting wide attention online of their video that spoofs the musical Les Miserables. You can view the video at the link. Image via Drama Fever. This video has now been featured by just about every mass media outlet to include the NY Times: SEOUL, South Korea — The “Gangnam Style” video has spawned seemingly endless remakes; there are even sites that allow viewers to insert photos of themselves onto the animated bodies of people performing the famous horse
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January 14th, 2013 at 3:18 am » Comments (1)

Park insists on cut in military duty – JoongAng Ilbo. Despite disgruntlement by the Ministry of National Defense, President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team is committed to her pledge to cut mandatory military service by three months, sources told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday. The presidential transition committee yesterday received briefings from the ministry on various issues including the upcoming wartime operational control handover from the United States to Korea. One of the key topics was Park’s promise to cut conscription from the current 21 months for the Army to 18 months.
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