BUSAN/CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang Province — “All hands, man your battle stations!” The combat control center of the South Korean Navy’s Sejong the Great Aegis destroyer in waters off the city of Busan sprung into life. Upon receiving information that a North Korean submarine armed with submarine-launched ballistic missiles, or SLBMs, was operating in waters off the Korean Peninsula, crew members donned life vests and took up their stations as a simulated exercise began Tu

Defense May 18, 2023

North Korea has resumed refurbishing a launchpad at the country’s main long-range missile and rocket launching station on the west coast since late last month, after nearly a half-year hiatus, a US think tank said Sunday. The construction activities have taken place to renovate the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the Tongchang-ri area, North Pyongan Province, according to 38 North who based its findings from analyzing recent satellite imagery. The launch site has been used to launch t

Defense May 15, 2023

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Friday that it is neither considering expanding military conscription to female citizens nor extending the period of mandatory military service for eligible male citizens as ways to address personnel challenges in the military, amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the current military service system. The ministry also said it has ruled out abolishing the alternative civilian service, which enables those who object to military service on various groun

Defense May 12, 2023

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Thursday announced that the advantages of allowing enlisted soldiers to carry and use their mobile phones during working hours outweighed the disadvantages based on the outcomes of a previous pilot program. The military will conduct another, larger-scale pilot program targeting 20 percent of all soldiers from July to December this year. Only 5 percent were subject to the two-month test operation conducted from June to December last year. South Korean enlis

Defense May 11, 2023

DEMILITARIZED ZONE, South Korea -- Achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea’s persistent nuclear saber-rattling requires strength, but such strength is derived from the formidable alliance and deepening defense integration between the treaty allies, said Gen. James McConville, chief of staff of the United States Army. US combat-credible forces are “very ready” in the face of escalating missile and nuclear threats from North Korea, following the bedrock “ph

Defense May 11, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday said South Korea is open to trilateral strategic and nuclear planning with the United States and Japan on how to respond in the event of a North Korea’s nuclear attack. Yoon underscored that “security cooperation is more important than ever” as South Korea and Japan face common threats from North Korea, during a televised news conference following his in-person summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul. Yoon said he is open to

Defense May 7, 2023

North Korea has refused to take regular phone calls from South Korea for a month, while stepping up criticism of the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s policy of strengthening coordination with the United States in countering and deterring escalating North Korean threats. Pyongyang has violated the inter-Korean commitment to hold calls through the liaison and military hotlines twice a day, in the morning and afternoon. But the Kim Jong-un regime has not provided any clear explanation for why it un

North Korea May 7, 2023

South Korea and the United States should focus on rendering North Korea’s nuclear arsenal useless to gain the upper hand over North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to former US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. Pyongyang’s expansion of its nuclear weapon stockpiles won’t make that big of a difference as long as the allies project the perception to Kim that the use of even one nuclear weapon will undoubtedly result in the “instant end” of his regime. &l

North Korea May 3, 2023

North Korean state media on Monday refuted the legitimacy of deploying a US nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea, as part of its ongoing criticism of the new landmark nuclear deal signed by the leaders of South Korea and the United States. Pyongyang has released a spate of public statements that denounce the Washington Declaration inked by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and President Joe Biden on Wednesday. The new deterrence strategy aims to better address escalating nuclear and missile

North Korea May 1, 2023

The leaders of South Korea and the United States agreed to launch a “Nuclear Consultative Group” to enable the allies to jointly conduct nuclear planning and sketch out scenarios of how the allies can use the US nuclear arsenal in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack. The establishment of the NCG is the key part of the “Washington Declaration,” tailored to show the allies’ commitment to enhancing the viability of extended deterrence, which the US’ commit

Defense April 27, 2023

US President Biden on Wednesday warned that a nuclear attack by North Korea against the US and South Korea will result in the end of the Kim Jong-un regime. Biden’s warning came after he and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol adopted the “Washington Declaration,” which included the allies’ commitment to strengthening US extended deterrence against North Korean nuclear threats. Extended deterrence is the US’ commitment to deter or respond to coercion and external a

Defense April 27, 2023

The Kim Jong-un regime won’t be deterred by a nuclear-armed South Korea, a former United States Forces Korea commander said. It would, in turn, speed up North Korea’s already-accelerated pace of nuclear buildup and the nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region, where major flash points have long existed and have become more dangerous and volatile in the midst of the growing US-China rivalry. “You don’t have to have a nuke to take out a nuke,” Walter L. Sharp, who

Defense April 26, 2023

A group of 28 South Korean nationals returned home from strife-torn Sudan on Tuesday afternoon, as part of a five-day evacuation operation that involved cooperation with the US, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The group aboard a KC-330 multirole tanker aircraft arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at 3:57 p.m. South Korea was the first country in Asia to have completed the rescue mission, according to a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on c

Foreign Affairs April 25, 2023

The United States should redeploy its tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula to make US extended deterrence credible against escalating threats from North Korea, said John Bolton, former White House national security adviser, on Tuesday. This strategy would also enable South Korea to buy time to weigh up the gains and losses of nuclear armament, he added. “I’ve refused to give up on the possibility of stopping North Korea from getting deliverable nuclear weapons in the firs

Defense April 25, 2023

South Korea evacuated its nationals from strife-torn Sudan and transported them to Saudi Arabia before heading home, the presidential office in Seoul said Monday evening. The group of 26 Koreans on board a KC-330 multi-role tanker aircraft is set to arrive at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday afternoon, said Lim Jong-deuk, the second deputy director of the National Security Office. Two South Korean nationals will stay in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah because they did n

Foreign Affairs April 24, 2023