Far East Watch

South Korea says US cancels joint marine drill over Iran war– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser August 26, 2026 0

South Korea says US cancels joint marine drill over Iran war– www.channelnewsasia.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

SEOUL: South Korea said on Monday (Aug 24) that the United States had cancelled a large joint amphibious landing exercise scheduled for next month due to constraints on force availability caused by the war with Iran.

The biennial Ssangyong drills involve marine forces from South Korea and the US and are designed to strengthen combined operations, typically involving warships, aircraft and ground forces rehearsing amphibious landings.

The cancellation follows US President Donald Trump’s order last week to scale down the separate annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, cutting the joint drills from 11 days to five.

Trump at the time cited their high cost and said they sent an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea, while highlighting his relationship with its leader, Kim Jong Un.

“The US Marine Corps formally notified our forces in June that its ability to deploy forces during this year’s Ssangyong exercise would be constrained due to the situation in the Middle East,” Han Seung-jeon, a spokesman for the South Korean Marine Corps, told reporters at a news briefing.

Seoul and Washington were continuing consultations on resuming the amphibious exercise, he said, without giving details.

South Korea says Russian military planes entered its air defence zone– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser August 26, 2026 0

South Korea says Russian military planes entered its air defence zone– www.channelnewsasia.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

SEOUL: South Korea said on Wednesday (Aug 25) it had scrambled fighter jets in response to Russian military aircraft entering its air defence zone, the second such incursion in weeks.

The relationship between the countries has worsened since South Korea joined Western sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and since Moscow built stronger ties with North Korea.

Seoul’s defence ministry said multiple Russian aircraft had entered and then left its air defence identification zone over the East Sea, also called the Sea of Japan.

“South Korea’s military detected the Russian aircraft before they entered the zone and deployed Air Force fighter jets to prepare for any contingency,” it said, without giving details.

The Russian aircraft did not violate South Korean airspace, it said.

Trump cuts military drills with South Korea citing ‘very good relationship’ with Kim Jong-un – US politics live | Donald Trump– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser August 26, 2026 0

Trump cuts military drills with South Korea citing ‘very good relationship’ with Kim Jong-un – US politics live | Donald Trump– www.theguardian.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

US president Donald Trump said he ordered the Pentagon to scale back “inappropriate and hostile” military drills with South Korea, hours before the exercises began on Monday.

The drills under Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two major annual exercises held by South Korea and the US, start on Monday and run until 27 August.

They were expected to involve about 18,000 South Korean troops, alongside US forces and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC), the multinational body that oversees the 1953 armistice that halted hostilities of the Korean war.

However, on Sunday evening, the US president said he was “not happy” with US participation “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un”. He added that they were costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as long as Donald J Trump has been president, has been unthreatening and respectful”.

South Korea says US cancels joint marine drill over Iran war– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser August 26, 2026 0

South Korea says US cancels joint marine drill over Iran war– www.channelnewsasia.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

SEOUL: South Korea said on Monday (Aug 24) that the United States had cancelled a large joint amphibious landing exercise scheduled for next month due to constraints on force availability caused by the war with Iran.

The biennial Ssangyong drills involve marine forces from South Korea and the US and are designed to strengthen combined operations, typically involving warships, aircraft and ground forces rehearsing amphibious landings.

The cancellation follows US President Donald Trump’s order last week to scale down the separate annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, cutting the joint drills from 11 days to five.

Trump at the time cited their high cost and said they sent an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea, while highlighting his relationship with its leader, Kim Jong Un.

“The US Marine Corps formally notified our forces in June that its ability to deploy forces during this year’s Ssangyong exercise would be constrained due to the situation in the Middle East,” Han Seung-jeon, a spokesman for the South Korean Marine Corps, told reporters at a news briefing.

Seoul and Washington were continuing consultations on resuming the amphibious exercise, he said, without giving details.

South Korea says Russian military planes entered its air defence zone– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser August 26, 2026 0

South Korea says Russian military planes entered its air defence zone– www.channelnewsasia.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

SEOUL: South Korea said on Wednesday (Aug 25) it had scrambled fighter jets in response to Russian military aircraft entering its air defence zone, the second such incursion in weeks.

The relationship between the countries has worsened since South Korea joined Western sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and since Moscow built stronger ties with North Korea.

Seoul’s defence ministry said multiple Russian aircraft had entered and then left its air defence identification zone over the East Sea, also called the Sea of Japan.

“South Korea’s military detected the Russian aircraft before they entered the zone and deployed Air Force fighter jets to prepare for any contingency,” it said, without giving details.

The Russian aircraft did not violate South Korean airspace, it said.

South Korea focuses on drone mine counters, naval gunnery as attritable unmanned threats proliferate– www.washingtontimes.com

pgnewser August 4, 2026 0

South Korea focuses on drone mine counters, naval gunnery as attritable unmanned threats proliferate– www.washingtontimes.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

SEOUL, South Korea — As Ukraine and Iran battle larger, better-armed, high-tech adversaries using economical and attritable unmanned systems, armed forces around the world are taking on board the key lessons.

Take the South Korean navy, which is working up skillsets and technologies capable of countering these asymmetric threats.

The middle power’s navy conducted its first-ever mine-clearance drill combining a crewed vessel with multiple unmanned systems Monday, according to reports from the southeastern port city of Busan.

The trials involved both the South Korean navy and arms company Hanwha Systems, and included an artificial intelligence component. Assets engaged were a 730-ton minesweeper, aerial reconnaissance drones, two surface drones and underwater drones.

Xi’s Purges Continue

pgnewser July 28, 2026 0

Another heavyweight CCP member found himself purged from power by Chairman Xi. Former Politburo member Ma Xingrui was the latest high-profile leader removed under Xi’s anti-corruption operation. The move shows Xi has still not consolidated power after the attempted coup from within last year.

China expels Ma Xingrui in fresh politburo purge as Xi Jinping tightens grip amid mounting internal challenges – organiser.org
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EXCERPT:

The expulsion of former Politburo member Ma Xingrui from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has become the latest chapter in President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, but the significan…

South Korea’s Goes North with Fake News Law – mindfulintelligence.news

pgnewser July 7, 2026 0

South Korea has passed a new law that penalizes journalists for sharing “fake news.” The Journalists Association of Korea said of the law, “Even if a law’s objective is legitimate, it could erode the foundations of democracy if it’s enforced in a way that discourages the media and ordinary citizens from freely criticizing and scrutinizing those in power.”

Go Deeper

Chinese court hands former local official a death sentence in $325M bribery case– abcnews.com

pgnewser July 7, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

WASHINGTON — A court in eastern China on Monday sentenced a former local official to death over taking bribes that authorities said amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars during a three-decade period.

Yang Youlin, a former economic development official in the Jiangsu Province capital of Nanjing on China’ s east coast, “illegally accepted property and assets” valued over 2.21 billion yuan ($325 million) from 1993 to 2023, the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court said in a statement.

Christian in China Freed by Trump – thebethlehem.com

pgnewser July 6, 2026 0

In the wake of a wave of crackdowns on Christians by Chairman Xi’s China, President Trump has successfully convinced the leader to let a Christian pastor go free. The pastor is Ezra Jin Mingri, who appears to have been released as a token “gift” to President Trump.  He was released two months after President Trump’s Beijing visit.

Go Deeper

China test-launches ballistic missile from sub in South Pacific, drawing protests– www.cbsnews.com

pgnewser July 6, 2026 0

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EXCERPT:

Bangkok — China’s military test-launched a long-range ballistic missile Monday from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific, drawing protest and concern from countries in the region.

The missile was launched at 12:01 p.m. and carried a dummy warhead, according the official Xinhua News Agency.

China last conducted a missile test in the Pacific two years ago, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead. That previous launch in international waters was the first in decades, since 1980.

China’s newest aircraft carrier sails through the Taiwan Strait– abcnews.com

pgnewser June 23, 2026 0

News Source
EXCERPT:

China’s newest and most powerful aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China’s newest and most powerful of its three aircraft carriers sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the Taiwanese defense ministry said, a day after Taiwan began a five-day military exercise on responding to a Chinese attack.

The Fujian carrier first sailed through the narrow body of water separating China and Taiwan in a trial run last September. It later transited the strait for the first time as a fully commissioned military vessel in December.