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Military reshuffles top brass

First female `combat’ officer promoted to general By Jung Sung-ki Col. Song Myung-soon at the civil operations bureau of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) was promoted to brigadier general Thursday, becoming the first Korean female “combat” officer to reach that rank. Adm. Kim Jung-doo, head of the JCS’ arms improvement bureau, was promoted to the post of vice chairman of the JCS, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Meanwhile, President Lee Myung-bak named Maj. Gen. Yoon Young-beom, deputy chief of staff of the Combined Forces Command (CFC), as new presidential secretary for defense affairs. Song previously had a combat specialty: before her, only nursing officers made one-star general. “The aspect of combat operations has certainly changed, so the roles of female soldiers and officers have become more important than before,” Song told reporters. “If we take the best advantage of women’s skills in civil operations and others, for example, I’m sure the military’s contribution to domestic and overseas operations will further increase.” In a general-leve

Dec 16, 2010

Military to resume live-fire drills in West Sea

By Jung Sung-ki South Korea plans to issue a navigation ban for the western waters off Yeonpyeong Island later this week for maritime live-fire drills, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Thursday. The move is expected to further ratchet up cross-border tensions after the North fired its artillery at the island Nov. 23 in response to the South’s firing drill near the border island. The artillery attack killed four South Koreans — two marines and two civilians — sparking outrage in the South. As a result, Seoul has vowed retaliation, including air strikes, should Pyongyang attack again. The United States has also expressed support for this principle for self-defense. “We will issue a navigation ban for the coastal area of Yeonpyeong between Dec. 18 and 21 for maritime live-fire drills,” JCS spokesman Col. Lee Bung-woo told reporters. “A detailed date for declaring the ban will be decided after taking weather conditions into account.” The exercises will be held in the southwestern waters of the island, where South Korea’s marines had held exercises ju

Dec 16, 2010

Gen. Kim Sang-ki named new Army chief

By Jung Sung-ki The Ministry of National Defense named Gen. Kim Sang-ki, commander of the Third Army Command, as new Army chief Wednesday. Kim, 58, replaces Gen. Hwang Eui-don, who resigned Tuesday in the wake of controversy over his past property investment. Lt. Gen. Lee Hong-ki, director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)’s operations bureau, was appointed as Kim’s successor, according to the ministry. Lee is to be promoted to a four-star general. The nomination of Kim and Lee is subject to approval from the Cabinet meeting Thursday. “Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin nominated Gen. Kim and Lt. Gen. Lee as new Army chief and Third Army Commander, respectively, in recognition of Kim’s expertise in military affairs and Lee’s extensive field-commanding experience. And the President accepted the nomination,” the ministry said in a statement. A graduate of the Korea Military Academy in 1976, Gen. Kim previously served as deputy defense minister for policy and as commander of the 50th Army Division. He also served as vice chief of JCS’ strategy planning bureau, head of th

Dec 15, 2010

Military faces top brass reshuffle

By Jung Sung-ki Following the resignation of Army chief of staff Gen. Hwang Eui-don, Tuesday, the military is expected to face a shakeup of its leadership. But the scale of the reshuffle will not be large, military sources said. The reshuffle comes amid growing calls to overhaul the military’s bureaucratic practices and instead further boost combat readiness against North Korean provocations. “The planned reshuffle for this week was only to affect brigadiers and major generals, but with Hwang’s resignation, a small number of four-star officers are now expected to be affected,” a source said. The personnel shakeup had been planned for Dec. 2, but was postponed in the aftermath of the North’s Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, which killed four South Koreans. Military insiders say Hwang’s resignation is not only related to a property investment scandal but also in line with the government’s efforts to nominate more professional field commanders to top positions of the military in order to respond to the North’s military threat more effectively. When Hwang w

Dec 14, 2010

Army chief quits over property scandal

By Jung Sung-ki Army chief of staff Gen. Hwang Eui-don resigned Tuesday, ahead of a planned reshuffle of top military brass this week. President Lee Myung-bak accepted his resignation, Cheong Wa Dae officials said. Hwang’s resignation follows a controversy over property investment. He was suspected of having engaged in real estate speculation based on inside information about the government’s relaxation of regulations on the height of buildings around military installations. Hwang bought a two-story building with a total floor space of 316 square meters near the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan, central Seoul, in August 2002, when he was serving as the ministry spokesman. Just four months after buying the building, the ministry announced a plan to relax the height of buildings in the Yongsan area to allow construction of buildings of up to 95 meters in height. Hwang subsequently remodeled the building to make it a six-story one, which is now worth an estimated 6 billion won. Hwang argued that he had been not in a position to secure such confidential info

Dec 14, 2010

Army service to be kept at 21 months

By Jung Sung-ki The Ministry of National Defense has decided to put a halt to a reduction of the Army’s mandatory military service period to 18 months, and instead keep it at 21 months, a ministry official said Monday. The service period for the Navy and Air Force will also remain at 23 and 24 months, respectively, the official said, adding the plan will be approved during next week’s Cabinet meeting. The move comes amid growing calls to strengthen the nation’s defense readiness against North Korean provocations. On Nov. 23, the North fired about 170 artillery shells and rockets at one of South Korea’s five islands near the volatile West Sea border, killing two marines and two civilians. Earlier this month, an ad hoc panel on defense reform measures proposed to Cheong Wa Dae that service periods of the Army, Navy and Air Force should revert back to 24 months. But Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and other government officials shared the view that such a move could provoke a public backlash. “Final approval will be given next week, but the Ministry of National Defe

Dec 13, 2010

Allies set up body on extended deterrence

By Jung Sung-ki South Korea and the United States signed an agreement Monday to institutionalize a joint committee on the use of extended deterrence capability on the Korean Peninsula in the case of war. The terms of reference (TOR) was signed by senior defense officials from both nations during the Security Policy Initiative (SPI) meeting in Seoul. The agreement comes as animosity spikes on the peninsula in the aftermath of North Korea’s artillery attack on a South Korean island near the West Sea border last month. Tension will remain high this week, as South Korea began a week of live-fire drills off all its coasts Monday. The exercises will be held at 27 places through Dec. 19. They will not take place near the contested West Sea border with the North, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Chang Kwang-il, deputy defense minister for policy, represented the South at Monday’s SPI meeting, while Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, led the U.S. delegation. The Extended Deterrence Policy Committee will serve

Dec 13, 2010

No change in Pyongyangs position

By Jung Sung-ki North Korea is said to have made few concessions when a top Chinese official visited Pyongyang last week to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the aftermath of the North’s artillery attack on a South Korean island last month, a Seoul official said Sunday. Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang Thursday for discussions on the deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island off the western coast and tension-reducing measures. The attack killed four South Koreans _ two marines and two civilians. China briefed Seoul on the outcome of the Kim-Dai meeting through diplomatic channels Friday night, said the official, requesting anonymity. “It appears that there is little difference in the North’s position,” he said, declining to elaborate. North Korea argues it fired shells onto Yeonpyeong in response to South Korea’s maritime live-fire drills near the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The South said the drills were held within its territory, not violating any inter-Korean and international agreements. Beijin

Dec 12, 2010

Blame game continues over Presidents initial directive over Yeonpyeong attack

By Jung Sung-ki The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) dismissed a local report Saturday that the presidential office had directed the military to prevent the escalation of conflict with North Korea, following the North’s Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, near the sea border in the West Sea. “We didn’t have any directive from Cheong Wa Dae ordering a prevention of escalation,” the JCS said in a statement. Whether Cheong Wa Dae gave such an order has been an issue of debate amid criticism that the South did not respond to the attack properly though the unprecedented bombardment killed four South Koreans. According to the Hankyeoreh newspaper, which quoted an unidentified military officer privy to communications between the presidential office and JCS, Cheong Wa Dae directed the chiefs to assess the number of civilian casualties and make efforts not to escalate the situation into war. Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung relayed the comment in a press briefing. She said President Lee Myung-bak ordered the military to “resolutely respond but prevent the situation from e

Dec 12, 2010

Seoul, Tokyo to hold vice defense ministers talks

By Jung Sung-ki The vice defense ministers from South Korea and Japan will hold talks in Tokyo Friday over defense cooperation between the two nations and joint efforts to deter North Korea’s provocations, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense said. Vice Defense Minister Lee Yong-geol arrived in the Japanese capital Thursday for the meeting with his Japanese counterpart Kimito Nakae will continue their talks through Friday, the ministry said in a press release. “During the talks, both vice defense ministers will share the views on security conditions on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear problem and deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, as well as ways of boosting bilateral defense cooperation,” it said. On Nov. 23, the North fire about 170 shells onto the island in waters off the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea border between the two Koreas, killing two marines and two civilians. The artillery attack came just eight months after the North allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship near the NLL, the flash point for inter-Korean conflicts, c

Dec 9, 2010
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