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The Chinese could reach Pyongyang in two hours; must be by air

The Korea Times had an article quoting a Japanese newspaper report that Chinese sources claimed that Chinese troops could be in Pyongyang within two hours. I suppose it could be true but Japanese reporting is not always accurate about North Korea. If the Chinese were to move south than they will not be able to use Google Maps; I tried and Google maps cannot plot a road trip to Pyongyang from the Chinese border. I also doubt that an overland tip would only take take two hours. The straight line distance from Dandong in China to Pyongyang is approximately 170km so the journey would have to be by aircraft to achieve the two hour timeframe. It is unclear what the Chinese troops would do once they go to a Pyongyang that was in the centre of a collapsing DPRK. Would they be bring Kim Jong Nam or would they be there to spirit away information that they did not want publicised?

So it looks like Korea will not be getting Global Hawk after all

(Source: Korea Times)

The Korea Times has an exclusive story claiming that the ROK will not be purchasing any Global Hawk UAVs as the price was just too high.

“We cannot buy the drones at the price the United States is offering them,” Noh Dae-lae, commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said. 

Some quick links, Monday 22 August 2011

- North Korea has seized South Korean assets at the Mt Kumgang resort and given the South Koreans there 72 hours to depart...that won't go down well.

- The Philippines largest warship, a former USCG cutter has arrived in Manila Bay.

- Nothing says law and order control like deploying sharp-shooters around East Java to keep the Idul Fitri exodus under control.

Media reports claim South Korea is close to being chosen to supply submarines to Indonesia

There are South Korean media reports claiming that Taufik Kiemas, the Speaker of Indonesia's Upper House of Parliament, informed Daewoo Heavy Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering officials that their company is almost certain to be chosen to supply submarines to the Indonesian Navy. I blogged about this acquisition program recently.

"Indonesia will likely pick Korea as the preferred bidder for its submarine acquisition program, worth $1.08 billion, industrial sources said Thursday. ..“France has been practically eliminated from the race,” an official of Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine (DSME) said, asking for anonymity." (Korea Times)

"Indonesia is close to picking Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering as the priority negotiating partner for a submarine project worth US$1.08 billion...A senior government official said Taufik Kiemas, the speaker of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly, told Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik on Wednesday morning that Daewoo is virtually certain to get the nod for the project. "There still are some more processes to follow, but the deal will be struck, unless something comes up," the official said." (Chosun Ilbo)

It will not be surprising if Korea picks this contract up because Indonesia and Korea have developed a strong relationship in the defence industry arena. Indonesian submarines were repaired in Korea and two years ago there was talk of a counter trade deal between the two countries as involving Korean made submarines and Indonesian made CN-235 aircraft.

Given ROK Marine's tragedy the opening of an Army shooting range to the public was unfortunate timing

Given the tragic shooting at the ROK Marine post on Kanghwa Islandit was probably unfortunate that the ROK Army announced on the same day plans to open an Army shooting range to the public. Given the recent events I suspect that this statement will change (my emphasis given):

The official said that they have not drawn up specific safety measures as a private organization that will primarily run the ranges has yet to be selected. But the plan is to conclude a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the chosen entity within the month. (Source)

 
The ROK Ministry of National Defence

Book Review - Between Dreams and Reality

Hardcover: 275 pages

Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center 

ISBN-10: 0674025024

It may sound a bad way to open the review but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. I had not picked it up for reading pleasure but to try and understand more about the Choson military structure. It is a well written book and while it covers a lot of academic ground it managed to do so with surprising interest.

Choson Dynasty Military Officials

I recently read Eugene Y. Park's Between Dreams and Reality about the military examination in the late Choson Dynasty in Korea. It started me thinking about the differences that emerge between a feudal society and a centrally organised society in regards to military control. The Romans had a centrally organised military but this gave way in Western Europe to feudalism with the military being raised by the aristocracy. In Korea's Choson Dynasty, as in China, the military was a centrally organised system. While there were professional soldiers and even officers there was a 'civil servant' structure that organised the military. These civil servants for military affairs were called muban. To be a muban meant having passed the military examination. Like the civil examination there was an emphasis on Confucian texts but there was also a practical military skills test. The practical test was part of the initial testing done at the regional level, with two further tests of both martial skills and Confucian knowledge conducted in the capital before a candidate could be termed a muban.

A Choson Muban with sword (note the Leopard rank badge on his chest) 
Note: I pulled this picture off a forum but lost the link. I am happy to acknowledge the source if provided.

Confucianism and war in East Asia

I recently read David C. Kang's book East Asia before the West and was very interested in his argument that there were less wars between the Sinic states (China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam) in East Asia during the 'Middle Ages' and early modern historical period than in Europe during the same time period. This argument was not a 'why Asia is superior to the West' diatribe but an observation. He believed that the reason that there were less wars was that there was a dominant hegemon, China, and that the Confucian system that China followed was essentially adopted by the other states, although to a lesser extent in Japan. I have included below the table that he used in his book to demonstrate his idea. Note that he is talking about wars between Sinicised states as there were constant raids by nomads and pirates that could be described as wars or raids depending on definitions. I think that he has a point. In western military history there is almost an assumption that inter-state war (100 Years War and 30 Years War as easy examples) were part of the natural course of events while amongst the states of East Asia that assumption would not hold so true, inter-state war was not regular.

 

   

Learning or not learning from the enemy

There is the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention and it is true that the necessity engendered by war has led to a number of inventions as well. Sometimes the operating environment faced by both sides has led to innovation, sometimes with different approaches. The trench stalemate of the Western Front in WW1 was a good example. The British built tanks to overcome the environment while the Germans focused on further developing stormtrooper units. These different approaches are caused by a combination of industrial capability, cultural attitudes, received wisdom, etc. Sometimes a superior capability of the enemy also leads to invention, such as can be seen by Confederate American responses to the blockade by the USA of southern ports that inspired the CSS Virginia and the CSS Hunley. Of course this is not always true. Sometimes a superior capability from the enemy does not see change in the opposing side. It took a long time for the French to counter the English longbow despite defeats at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. Two other examples that jump to mind came from the Imjin War of 1592-98 in Korea. The Turtle Ship or Kobukson of Admiral Yi caused many problems for the Japanese but was not taken up by China or Japan. Likewise, the Japanese castles built in southern Korea withstood sieges and attacks but were not copied by either the Chinese or Koreans in their later defensive works. This post will look at these two examples and offer perhaps some explanation as to why they did not inspire imitation.

Foreigners fighting in the 1592-98 Imjin War

In my post about the Siege of Suncheon Castle in 1598 I mentioned reports of the presence of soldiers from Java, Sumatra and Siam in the Chinese forces. I have just read an interesting article in the Jeju Weekly, thanks to the always interesting Korea-focused blog Marmot's Hole, about the Portuguese involvement in the Imjin War.

Shilla Kingdom armour found

The Korean English language newspaper Dong-a Ilbo has a report about the recent discovery of a tomb in the former Shilla capital of Gyeongju, South Korea containing the complete armour of a Shilla warrior and his horse. There is a Korean language article that includes pictures of the find. This was an important find because of the completeness of the artifacts. A list of what was found is below:

Horse armor was found in the main coffin housing the body of the warrior. The parts covering the neck, chest, trunk and hips were spread from the top in order from west to east in a wooden burial container crafted to place the coffin.

The warrior’s armor was placed above the trunk armor of the horse piece by piece – cuirass, back shield and leg protectors. A helmet along with neck and shoulder armor and arm protectors was discovered far west of the main coffin.

A sword with a ring end measuring 84 centimeters and a small knife made of deer horn were buried near the armor. In a separate container for burial accessories next to the main coffin, the helmet of the horse, saddle mould, a bit, stirrups, horse riding tools and pieces of earthenware were discovered.

Update: The seige of Suncheon, Korea 1598

I have updated my post on Suncheon Castle thanks to BearInBunnySuit on Military Photos net who gave me two extra links to Korean language websites on waeseong with some good pictures.

http://blog.naver.com/lyhlsrn?Redire...o=150045579781 - This castle is in Ulsan and is described as built by Kato Kiyomasa.

http://photonomad.tistory.com/219 - This castle is at Sachon and housed Shimazu Yoshihiro.

The siege of Suncheon, Korea 1598

Update 04 Jun 2009: Thanks to BearInBunnySuit on Military Photos net for giving me two extra links to Korean language websites on waeseong with some good pictures.

http://blog.naver.com/lyhlsrn?Redire...o=150045579781 - This castle is in Ulsan and is described as built by Kato Kiyomasa.

http://photonomad.tistory.com/219 - This castle is at Sachon and housed Shimazu Yoshihiro.

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The foundations of a once strongly built fortress remain almost intact north of the important South Korea port city of Yeosu. However, it is not a Korean castle but a Japanese one built to protect the Japanese troops that had invaded then Chosun Korea in 1592. By 1598 the Koreans were fighting well and had the mixed blessings of a Chinese Ming Dynasty Army and Navy fighting alongside them. The brief siege of Suncheon saw attempts at combined operations but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Walking Wolmi-do of the Incheon Landings

Walking a 20th century battlefield is often a moving as well as an informative activity. Moving, because you can sometimes see yourself in that place several generations before realising that those who died were just average people caught up in extraordinary times. Informative because the history is placed in a geographical context and you can understand why a hill was so important even though it was nothing more than a few lines on a map. Unfortunately, it is hard to make either connection when walking around Wolmi-do at Incheon. In September 1950 the island of Wolmi-do was the gateway to Incheon and the 'hard-nut' that needed to be taken before the landing force could get to the actual mainland. Today it is an urban park balancing the concrete structures of an ever growing major port.

Balhae Castle Unearthed

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo is reporting here that Korean scholars from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NRICH) in cooperation with Russian archaeologists have unearthed a Balhae era fortress.

A second test?

Reports quoting unnamed US sources are discussing the possibility of another nuclear test in North Korea. The Arms Control Wonk, as ever, gives a good read out on the reports, noting that some sources say a test is coming while other sources say no test is imminent.

What will happen and what are the ramifications?

The ROK contemplating shortening mandatory military service

President Roh has announced none too subtly his intention to look at reducing length of compulsory military service in Korea.  The story was then ‘confirmed’ by sources at the Blue House, as well as the newly appointed Defense Minister, who was also the former Army Commander. Some commentators are already viewing this as a popularity drive by the President in his last year of office. The Military Manpower Agency has allegedly said that it was having enough trouble filling quotas for troops let alone if the service period was reduced and therefore the number of recruits annually must increase. The plan was being explored in concert with a voluntary system that would allow soldiers to stay on for an extra year in the military and get paid the same as a college graduate. An official announcement may be made by the end of this month.

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In conclusion, a reduction in military service will see a measured reduction in the capability of the standing military, while potentially still retaining the same size reserve, although at a possibly lower state of experience. The Korean Military will need a large NCO class to carry the reduced service period but even this will not ameliorate totally the reduced manpower. In the short term, it is also clear that the debate will be full of emotion and the retired Defense Ministers/Generals are probably already girding their loins for the next tussle with the President.