The Combined Forces Command (CFC) Ulchi Focus Lens (UFL) exercise is no more; it has been replaced by the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise, which started on 18 August and ends on 22 August. The change is more than just the name as this year the South Korean military took the lead role […]
Victor Cha, in the Chosun Ilbo, discusses the problem - the current lack of a joint plan should Kim Jong-il die and North Korea spirals into chaos:
In what would be the single most important contingency that could impact the South Korean economy and security for decades, there is no agreed upon plan for […]
A seemingly small thing, but meaningful to both the families of the sailors that died, and to the service:
South Korea Tuesday renamed the 2002 inter-Korean naval clash in the West Sea to better reflect the nature of the battle, fought to defend the de facto sea border against invasion from the North, which […]
In written comments to questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee concerning his nomination to replace Gen. B.B. Bell, current director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon Gen. Walter Sharp lobbied for improved missile defense in South Korea:
North Korea has 13,000 artillery systems and 800 missiles, and South Korea lacks […]
The latest edition of the Military Review, a publication of the US Army’s Combined Arms Center located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, has an excellent paper on, “Finding America’s Role in a Collapsed North Korean State.” (PDF) An excerpt:
American military and political thinkers today are focused on creating policies to govern stability operations, but this […]
From AFP:
South Korea Wednesday launched its newest attack submarine, amid tensions with North Korea over their disputed sea border. The 1,800-ton diesel-electric submarine, the second of its size in the fleet, was launched at a Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in the southeastern city of Ulsan. The submarine is named “Jeongji” after a Korean military […]
If they actually fund it, it could happen. Might be a big “if.”
The number of armed forces personnel will be slashed to 500,000 from the current 680,000 by 2020 in line with a military reform bill under consideration at the National Assembly.
The defense reform law is designed to boost South Korea’s war capability by […]
Not much available on this yet, but according to the GOP, via the AP:
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday. Officials said Robert Gates, former head of the CIA, would replace Rumsfeld.
Although it’s too […]
On 24 October the Agency for Defense Development tested a 1000 km range, domestically designed cruise missile able to hit a target within 5 meter. The range means it is capable of reaching all part of North Korea, as well as parts of China and Japan – including Beijing and Tokyo. However the missile […]
North Korean media recently announced that the DPRK has the, “right to launch a pre-emptive attack to counter” Ulchi Focus Lens, commonly referred to as UFL. So what is UFL and why might the North Korean leadership feel threatened?
UFL is a U.S.-ROK Combined Forces Command (CFC) large scale warfighting command post exercise (CPX) conducted […]
In a previous post on Pyongyang Soju being imported to the U.S., I used pics from a bottle I have, which was purchased in South Korea. Jason Perlow of Off the Broiler sampled some Pyongyang Soju at a Korean restaurant in New Jersey and has photos of the updated labels (looks like it was $5.99 a bottle).
- #OFK has a telling post (w/video) on Joe Biden's North Korea policy. It's hard to do much of a related post on Obama since he hasn't even completed one term in the senate and so has a thin record. See all Election 2008 posts.
- #15 August is the 63rd anniversary of Victory over Japan (V-J) Day, or Liberation Day in North and South Korea. It’s hard to imagine how the North Koreans could explain the significance of the day without mentioning the U.S. doing the heavy lifting, but they still manage to do so.
- #North Korean Economy Watch has released version 11 of his layer/bookmarks for North Korea in Google Earth - easily the most authoritative map of North Korea on the web.
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