South Korea's Air Force Releases Video Of A Simulated Pre-Emptive Strike Against North Korea

UPI: South Korea releases pre-emptive strike video amid rising tensions

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- South Korea's air force released a video of a simulated pre-emptive strike against North Korean weapons systems on Thursday, amid concerns Pyongyang could be preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The video from Seoul's military shows fictitious footage of the Global Hawk, a remotely piloted surveillance aircraft, detecting activity in North Korea, where the regime is seen setting up an ICBM on a mobile launch pad, South Korean television network JTBC reported Thursday.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:  I am sure this is going to get North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's attention.

South Korea Is Considering The Building Of Large Aircraft Carriers

South Korea's first-in-class amphibous assault ship. USN

Warzone/The Drive: South Korea Considers Building Large Aircraft Carriers As Country Prepares To Buy More F-35s

As the security situation in the region erodes, the carrier question becomes more pressing for Seoul.

A senior South Korean lawmaker has said the country should reconsider proposals for acquiring either light or medium aircraft carriers with Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery, or CATOBAR, configurations to respond to growing regional security threats. These were alternatives to South Korea's reported decision to purchase a number of large amphibious assault ships capable of supporting fixed-wing short takeoff and vertical landing combat jets, namely the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. This call for reassessing that choice comes as the South Korean Ministry of Defense may be leaning toward acquiring 20 more conventional F-35A models rather than B variants, further deferring plans to develop a fixed-wing naval aviation capability.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter makes this possible.

Is This South Korean Warship Really An Aircraft Carrier

Wikimedia

Zachary Keck, National Interest: South Korea Just Launched Its New 'Aircraft Carrier in Disguise'

South Korea has launched its second amphibious assault ship.

On May 14, South Korean officials launched the second Dokdo-class helicopter carrier. The ceremony took place in Busan at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, the company that built the vessel. Among those in attendance were Defense Minister Song Young-moo and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Um Hyun-seong, according to local news outlets.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:  At 14,500 tons it is too small to be an aircraft carrier. But it will be able to have a few F-35B Joint Strike Fighters.

The Republic of South Korea Air Force (In One Chart)

The Republoc of Korea Air Force in 2018, by airbases and squadrons!https://t.co/29hrMehpaV#rokaf #korea #airforce #f15k #대한민국공군 #대한민국 pic.twitter.com/F2pqKAE3zv

— CIGeography (@CIGeography) May 12, 2018

The South Korean Navy Wants A Nuclear Submarine

A South Korea-based think tank recommends the country model its nuclear attack submarine after the French Barracuda-class submarine because it is powered by low-enriched uranium. (DCNS)

The Warzone/The Drive: Why Would The South Korean Navy Be Eyeing A Nuclear Submarine Capability?

A nuclear boat would offer significant additional capabilities for the service, but could come at a high cost, practically and politically.

South Korea’s Navy is looking into the practical and political feasibility of domestic design and production of a nuclear-powered submarine. The study comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea and concerns about that country’s own submarine-launched ballistic missile developments, but could further strain relationships on the Peninsula and beyond and could prove to be technically complex and expensive without a clear imperative to develop such a boat in the first place.

According to Defense News, in October 2017, the South Korean Navy hired Seoul-based think tank the Korea Defense Network (KDN) to conduct a five-month long study of possible designs. The final report recommended developing a nuclear attack submarine akin the France’s Barracuda-class.

Read more ....

Update: South Korea eyes French design for indigenous nuclear sub, sources say (Defense News)

WNU Editor: This is just a feasibility study .... but with joint Korean talks about to begin, the timing of this study could not have come at a worse time.

The South Korean Army Is Bigger Than The U.S. Army

A South Korean soldier takes part in a combined arms collective training exercise in Pocheon, South Korea September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji.

Kyle Mizokami, National Interest: South Korea's Army Has 560,000 Troops Ready to Take on Kim Jong Un

The Republic of Korea Army is a large, powerful land force capable defending the border from North Korean invasion. It’s no accident that the North Korean military has evolved asymmetric means such as long range border artillery, light infantry, infiltration forces, and chemical and radiological units to counter the South’s increasing technological superiority. The ROK Army has deterred war for the last seventy years, a benchmark of success for any peacetime army.

In the last seventy years, the Republic of Korea Army (ROK Army) has evolved from a constabulary force into one of the largest, most powerful, technologically advanced armies in the world. This remarkable evolution is entirely due to the original 1950–53 invasion and war by neighboring North Korea. This existential threat has never truly gone away, with North Korea consistently threatening—and preparing for—a second, successful invasion.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is interesting .... the 560,000-strong ROK Army, which is only responsible for the defense of South Korea, is larger than the 475,000-strong U.S. Army, which has a global presence. This has prompted at least one U.S. general, who would assume control of the combined U.S-ROK armies in wartime, to quip “My army is bigger than my army.”

South Korean Forces Create A North Korea Nuclear Monitoring Team

© KCNA / Reuters

CNN: South Korean forces to create North Korea nuclear monitoring team

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)The South Korean Defense Ministry is creating a new bureau dedicated to monitoring and countering the threat from North Korea, according to a government news release.

The announcement comes on the heels of growing calls for South Korea's armed forces to establish a so-called "control tower" dedicated to exclusively handling North Korea affairs. The threat from Pyongyang has come under increased focus in 2017, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over significant advancements in the country's long-range missile and nuclear weapons program.

The new plan is part of a wider organizational restructuring aimed at better responding to cross-border provocations and was approved at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I am surprised reading this report that South Korea has established a nuclear monitoring team. You would have thought that such a team was set up years ago when North Korea first started testing nuclear devices.

More News On South Korean Forces Creating A North Korea Nuclear Monitoring Team

South Korea Creates North Korea Nuclear Team as Crisis with Kim Jong Un Escalates -- Newsweek
Defense ministry to create N. Korea nuke team -- Yonhap
North Korea Won't Stop Its Arms Tests Anytime Soon, South Korea Warns -- New York Times

South Korea Test Ballistic Missile That Can Strike Anywhere In North Korea

New York Times: South Korea Says It Tested Missile That Can Strike Anywhere in North

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea successfully test-fired on Wednesday its first ballistic missile with a range far enough to hit any part of North Korea, Defense Ministry officials said.

With President Park Geun-hye watching, two missiles blasted off from a test site on the west coast of South Korea. The government released a photograph of a missile being fired from a tube mounted on what appeared to be a vehicle, suggesting that the model tested was a prototype for a mobile missile system.

South Korea has been developing a new ballistic missile since the United States agreed in 2012 to allow it to extend the range of those arms up to 800 kilometers, or about 500 miles, enough to reach any target in North Korea but not to threaten China or Japan.

More News On South Korea Testing A Ballistic Missile That Can Strike Anywhere In North Korea

South Korea test-fires missile that can strike all of the North -- Reuters
Amid tensions, South Korea test-fires ballistic missiles that can strike all of North Korea -- AP
President Park observes test-fire of Seoul's latest ballistic missile -- Arirang
South Korea fires test missiles to 'hit any target in North Korea' -- Deutsche Welle

South Korea Rejects Boeing's F-15 Fighter Deal

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

South Korea Ahead Of North In Air Power But Seeks Stealth As Deterrent -- Reuters

(Reuters) - South Korea's decision to reject a bid by Boeing to supply 60 warplanes and to re-issue a tender was made in the interests of better technology but may not be justified given North Korea's weak air capabilities, experts said on Wednesday.

Lockheed Martin's F-35A, previously considered too expensive, has shot to the front of the race for a multi-billion dollar deal after the Defence Ministry singled out a fifth-generation fighter as the preferred option.

Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle, the only bid within budget, had been poised to win the 8.3 trillion won ($7.7 billion) tender. But former military top brass and ruling party legislators had criticised the aircraft for lacking stealth capabilities.

Read more ....

More News On South Korea Rejecting Boeing's F-15 Fighter Deal

South Korea Rejects Boeing Bid For $7.7B Fighter Deal -- Defense News/AFP
Boeing Loses South Korean Fighter Contest -- DoD Buzz
SKorea Rejects Boeing, Says F-15 Not Good Enough -- ABC News/AP
South Korea Postpones Choice of Fighter Jet to Update Aging Fleet -- Wall Street Journal
South Korea restarts fighter jet tender -- BBC
S. Korea forms task force on new fighter-jet project -- Global Post/Yonhap News Agency
F-35 fighter jet project rebooted in S. Korea -- UPI
Lockheed Fighter Jet Gains Momentum -- Wall Street Journal
EADS Seeks Edge in South Korean Fighter Jet Contest Against U.S. -- Bloomberg Businessweek
South Korea dumps Boeing fighter jet tender, Lockheed soars back -- Reuters
Official Incompetence Botched Fighter Jet Selection -- Chosun Ilbo
F-15 Silent Eagle: Why South Korea rejected this jet -- Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park, Christian Science Monitor/Reuters

South Korea Is Hesitating To Buy The F-35

An F-35C Lightning II, marked CF-1, conducts a test flight over the Chesapeake Bay. Wikipedia

A ‘Stealth’ Showdown In South Korea -- The Diplomat

The F-35 should be the only game in town to build 60 new fighter aircraft for South Korea. Instead, its turned into a three-way race.

The FX-III competition to provide South Korea with 60 new fighter aircraft is being decided at a transitional moment in the history of manned fighters.

On one side sits the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin’s winning design for the U.S. and UK’s future multi-role fighter requirement. It’s the F-22’s single-engine little brother: a stealthy platform built for strike and air defense, laden with sensors and the epitome of modern, network-centric warfare. It’s also delayed, over-budget and has the unwanted distinction of being known as the trillion-dollar plane.

Read more ....

My Comment: I guess the South Koreans do not like the price for the F-35, and what they are getting for it. But .... I am still predicting that they will buy the F-35 to counter China's growing aviation fighter fleet.

South Korea Warns Pyongyang That Their New Cruise Missile Can Hit Any Target IN North Korea

South Korea Deploys Cruise Missiles Amid North Tensions -- BBC

South Korea says it has deployed new long-range cruise missiles that can hit ''any place'' in North Korea.

A defence ministry official said the missiles had a range of 1,000km (625 miles) and could hit any of Pyongyang's nuclear or missile sites.

The rare announcement came amid tension on the peninsula following North Korea's failed rocket launch.

Pyongyang said it was launching a satellite; critics said it was a banned test of long-range missile technology.

Read more ....

More News On South Korea's New Cruise Missile

South Korea Says New Missile Can Hit Any Target in North -- Voice of America
SKorea says new cruise missiles a warning to North -- AP
South Korea Confirms Deployment of Cruise Missile -- New York Times
S Korea deploys longer-range missiles -- International News

Winter Military Training For South Korean Special Forces

Soldiers In South Korea Get Half-Naked In Sub-Zero Endurance Test -- The Telegraph

230 half-naked South Korean soldiers brave freezing conditions in a numbing and bizarre army endurance excercise in the country's Pyeongchang province.

The military drill is part of South Korea's army winter training session in which troops shower each other in snow, plunge into deep icy water and patrol through snow on skis.

Despite the bitterly cold temperatures of minus 20 degrees most soldiers appeared to enjoy the experience, laughing, smiling and screaming as they undertook the gruelling training session.

Read more ....

More News On South Korean Special Forces Training In Winter

Half-naked South Korean soldiers train for winter war -- Reuters
S. Korean Special Forces Train in Harsh Winter Conditions -- Arirang
Military training for South Korean special forces -- Euro News
Macho soldiers of the South Korean Special Warfare Forces undergo torture training -- Herald Sun
South Korea Soldiers Brave The Snow Shirtless For Weather Training (VIDEO) -- Huffington Post
Photo Gallery: Cold weather warfare drill in S. Korea -- Ottawa Citizen

My Comment: What caught my eye in this video were the female soldiers training with the men.