#anon_candanga : It's reported that a group of #mercenaries (former special forces soldiers) from #SouthKorea have arrived in Ukraine to participate in hostilities on the side of International Legion of Defense of Ukraine https://t.co/Hq4yJBIVBM

#anon_candanga : US, #SouthKorea rattling sabres as N Korea tests missile https://t.co/yrklabgIf8

#anon_candanga : #SouthKorea launched a new 2,800-ton frigate with anti-submarine capabilities on Wednesday.

#anon_candanga : #SouthKorea showing what it called a successful test of a “solid-fuel space projectile” on Wednesday. https://t.co/2FxDy2favb

#SouthKorea’s President-Elect Wants U.S. Nuclear Bombers, Submarines to Return

South Korea’s President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol asked for the US to return nuclear bombers and submarines to the Korean peninsula during talks in Washington on Wednesday (April 6), one of his advisors said, according to Reuters.

The US removed its strategic nuclear weapons from South Korea in 1991. Yoon has vowed to take a firmer stance towards the North than outgoing President Moon Jae-in and is seeking the return of US nuclear weapons as part of that plan.

“Deploying the strategic assets is an important element of reinforcing the extended deterrence, and the issue naturally came up during the discussions,” said Park Jin, a South Korean lawmaker who led the delegation.

When asked if the US supported deploying nuclear weapons to the Korean peninsula, a White House official said US officials and the South Korean delegation had “discussed generally” Washington’s defense commitments, and did not elaborate further.

The delegation visit came after recent missile tests conducted by North Korea that the US responded to by imposing fresh sanctions.

➨ news.antiwar.com/2022/04/06/south-koreas-president-elect-wants-us-nuclear-bombers-submarines-to-return

The #SouthKorea Ministry of Defense has stated that at the moment it doesn't value trilateral military maneuvers between South Korea, the United States and Japan.

During a press conference offered on the 23rd, Moon Hong Sik, spokesman for the ministry, responded in this way when asked if they contemplate any joint maneuver between the three countries after the discussion between South Korea and the United States on the possible deployment of military strategic resources in the Korean peninsula.

When asked about what type of cooperation they consider, in addition to military exercises on defense, he replied that there were no more announcements than those already made.

Regarding the normalization of the base of the US THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, the spokesman said that it will follow the established norms, laws and procedures.

The U.S. and #SouthKorea held combined live-fire drills, including surface-to-surface missile tests involving the Army Tactical Missile System and the Hyunmoo-2 short-range ballistic missile, in response to the North conducting missile launches.

#SouthKorea military, Japan coast guard: North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles towards sea

North Korea has reportedly launched multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast, both South Korea’s military and Japan’s coast guard say.

#SouthKorea, #Japan and #USA Increase Military Ties Over Concerns About #NorthKorea

On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, President Joe Biden spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. While the summit’s focus is on Moscow, Washington is taking advantage of the gathering of world leaders to strengthen its military posture against Pyongyang.

In the leadup to the meeting between the leaders in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, Pyongyang claimed the US was attempting to create an “Asian version of NATO” to further its “sinister aim” towards North Korea.

President Biden stated the objective of the trilateral group is the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” North Korea has a nuclear arsenal of about 40-50 bombs. Pyongyang maintains a diluted “no-first-use” policy and claims its nukes protect it from Washington-based regime change operations.

South Korea houses nearly 30,000 American soldiers that ensure the US would fight to prevent an invasion and places Seoul under Washington’s nuclear umbrella. The North Korean government, led by the Kim family, maintains Pyongyang will not abandon its nuclear weapons until the US abandons its aggressive posture.

All three leaders said they were concerned with North Korea’s increased weapons tests in 2022, warning Pyongyang would soon conduct its seventh nuclear test. North Korea has already tested a record number of missiles in 2022.

👉 Source: Libertarian Institute

A fleet of F-35 stealth fighters arrived in #SouthKorea from the U.S. on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Army, a move one expert said signals to North Korea that U.S.-ROK combined training has returned to “normal levels.”

The aircraft are scheduled to carry out a 10-day training mission over the Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters, according to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), and will fly with several other U.S. and South Korean aircraft.

“The familiarization and routine training flights will enhance the interoperability of the two Air Forces to perform and operate on and around the Korean Peninsula,” U.S. Forces Korea said in a press release Tuesday. “The aviation training is also an opportunity for the aircrews to perform sustainment and maintenance duties to support the latest in military aircraft technology.”

The deployment of the F-35As came as South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff welcomed new chairman Kim Seung-gyeom, who warned during his inauguration speech on Tuesday that any “enemy” that provokes South Korea will face “unsparing retaliation” from the South Korean military.

The U.S. also sent B-1B bombers to Guam in early June for combined training with allies in the region.

Terence Roehrig, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, told NK News that North Korea will certainly note the cooperation between the two allies to be “able to fight together” even though it’s a “regular” combined exercise.

“[It] also goes hand in hand with deterrence and sending a message to North Korea, because in addition to being able to perfect your skills and working together, your ability to do that sends a message to North Korea that you are prepared, you are ready,” Roehrig said.

“They probably have some degree of things to make up because the drills have been scaled back the last number of years,” he added.

At their first summit in May, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to “expand the scope and scale” of joint military exercises to counter the “grave threat” posed by North Korea. Biden also reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to extended deterrence for South Korea utilizing nuclear, missile and conventional forces.

https://www.nknews.org/2022/07/us-deploys-f-35-fighter-jets-to-south-korea-for-training-mission/

#SouthKorea, #USA to Resume Major Military Drills

Seoul’s Defense Ministry announced Friday its armed forces will resume major live field training as joint military exercises with USA forces start up again next month.

The annual session will include 11 field exercises, including one at brigade-level, while the South Korean ministry added they hope to stage air carrier strike and amphibious drills soon.

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s spokesperson added that Seoul was looking to bolster the country’s missile defense system amidst growing fears North Korea could carry out its seventh nuclear test this year “at any time”.

#China and #SouthKorea clashed on Thursday (Aug 11) over a US missile defence shield, threatening to undermine efforts by the new government in Seoul to overcome longstanding security differences.
The disagreement over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system installed in South Korea emerged after an apparently smooth first visit to China by South Korea's foreign minister this week.
China, contending that the THAAD's powerful radar could peer into its airspace, curbed trade and cultural imports after Seoul announced its deployment in 2016, dealing a major blow to relations.
A senior official in South Korea's presidential office told reporters on Thursday that THAAD is a means of self-defence and can never be subject to negotiations, after China demanded that South Korea not deploy any more batteries and limit the use of existing ones.
President Yoon Suk-yeol, seeing the system as key to countering North Korean missiles, has vowed to abandon the previous government's promises not to increase THAAD deployments, and not to participate in a US-led global missile shield or create a trilateral military alliance involving Japan.
On the campaign trail, the conservative Yoon pledged to buy another THAAD battery, but since taking office in May, his government has focused on what officials call "normalising" the operation of the existing, US-owned and operated system.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, meeting on Tuesday, explored ways to reopen denuclearisation negotiations with North Korea and resume cultural exports, such as K-pop music and movies, to China.
A Wang spokesman said on Wednesday the two had "agreed to take each other's legitimate concerns seriously and continue to prudently handle and properly manage this issue to make sure it does not become a stumbling block to the sound and steady growth of bilateral relations".
The Chinese spokesman told a briefing the THAAD deployment in South Korea "undermines China's strategic security interest".
Park, however, told Wang that Seoul would not abide by the 2017 agreement, called the "Three Nos", as it is not a formal pledge or agreement, South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Washington insisted on Thursday that THAAD is "a prudent and limited self-defence capability" for South Korea and a "purely defensive measure" against the North's missile threat.
"Criticism or pressure on the RoK (South Korea) to abandon its self defence is inappropriate," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on a briefing call.
China also insists that South Korea abide by "one restriction" - limiting the use of existing THAAD batteries. South Korea has never acknowledged that element, but on Wednesday, Wang's spokesman emphasised that China attaches importance to the position of "three Nos and one restriction".
South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup said the policy on the THAAD would not change because of China's opposition, and the system's radar could not be used against China.
"The current battery is not structured to play any role in US defences but placed in a location where it can only defend the Korean peninsula," he told reporters.
During Park's visit to the eastern port city of Qingdao, the Chinese Communist Party-owned Global Times praised Yoon for showing "independent diplomacy and rationality toward China" by not meeting face to face with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she visited last week.
But the newspaper warned that the THAAD issue was "a major hidden danger that cannot be avoided in China-South Korea ties".
Source: Reuters

US, #SouthKorea begin biggest joint military drills since Trump-Kim summit

The drills known as Ulchi Freedom Shield are expected to involve thousands of military personnel, the biggest such exercises in about five years

#SouthKorea and the United States began their first combined naval exercise near the peninsula in five years on Monday (Sep 26) This exercise was prepared to demonstrate the strong will of the South Korea-US alliance to respond to North Korean provocations," the South's navy said in a statement

#SouthKorea has lost track of one of four missiles fired last week in a joint test with the United States in response to North Korea's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, raising serious questions about the missile's performance, reports Yonhap.

According to media sources, the missile lost contact, so it is unknown if it was able to hit the intended target, while other three hit designated targets.

The ballistic missile launched on October 4 by Pyongyang flew over Japan for the first time in five years and, according to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, would have had a record range in the history of North Korean weapons tests, after covering a distance of 4,600 kilometers.

For their part, the South Korean and US armies each fired two missiles from the ATACMS system in the direction of the Sea of ​​Japan.

🇰🇷 #SouthKorea is pushing the US to exchange tactical nuclear weapons

The South Korean government has asked the United States to share tactical nuclear weapons to bolster the country's defenses against North Korea.

A South Korean government official said: “If North Korea conducts a seventh nuclear test, we will face a whole new level of threat. We are discussing with the United States ways to radically increase the extended containment of the DPRK in order to change the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.” South Korea has in mind the deployment of US strategic military facilities near the Korean Peninsula on a rotational basis - an aircraft carrier strike group or nuclear submarines.

A security official said, "A [South] Korean-style nuclear sharing scheme is being discussed that could avoid protests from neighboring countries and a regional build-up of nuclear weapons."

#SouthKorea's Navy is seeking to create a new command running unmanned ships, submarines and aircraft in the 2040s, the armed service said Friday, in an effort to address a potential troop shortage caused by the country's low birthrate, according to Yonhap News Agency.

During a parliamentary audit, the Navy unveiled a series of policy goals, including removing one of the three fleet commands and creating the new command employing unmanned naval assets.

The envisioned command is to comprise three units -- the unmanned surface ship, submarine and aviation groups -- the Navy said.

For the change in its overall force structure, the Navy plans to curtail the percentage of conscripts in its personnel makeup to 20 percent in the 2040s from the current 37.1 percent.

The Navy also outlined its plan to increase the percentage of unmanned assets in its overall operations, which currently stands at 1 percent to 9 percent in the mid-2020s, 28 percent in the mid-2030s and 45 percent in the 2040s.

The #UnitedStates, #Japan and #SouthKorea have warned that a seventh nuclear bomb test by North Korea would require an "unprecedented" scale of response.

“We agreed that an unprecedented scale of response would be required if North Korea were to conduct a seventh nuclear test. We urge [North Korea] to refrain from further provocations," South Korea's First Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Hyung-don said at a press conference in Tokyo.

🇰🇷 Death toll during a stampede in the capital of South Korea has risen to 120. This is reported by Yonhap with reference to the authorities
#SouthKorea

North Korea fires several cruise missiles amid soaring tensions with South, US

🔹North Korea has fired several cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula amid soaring tensions with the South and the United States.

👉Read more

#NorthKorea #SouthKorea #UnitedStates
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