Deep Sea Area Studio Wu Jian
Deep Sea Area Special Contributor Ai Jia
8 August 25 to 26, the South Korean military organized a large-scale exercise in the controversial Dokdo (called Takeshima, Japan). It was a time when the two countries were in a trade war, especially three days after South Korea announced the abolition of the South Korean-Japanese Military Intelligence Protection Agreement, this series of "harsh tricks" undoubtedly showed that Seoul's position was to "fight to the end" with Japan.
South Korean military began a two-day military exercise in the waters near Dokdo Island (called "Bao Island" in Japan)
The secret of wording
Although the South Korean Ministry of Defense emphasized that the exercise is an annual routine, the expression in the manuscript can be renamed from the "Doudao Defense Exercise" in previous years as the "Doudao Defense Exercise" "East Sea Territory Protection Exercise", reflecting that the position is further hardened. South Korea not only needs to preserve Dokdo itself, but also ensure effective control of the surrounding waters, and further compress Japan's appeal space. During the exercise, the scale of the South Korean army dispatched more than twice that of previous years. Regardless of the more than 10 ships of the Navy and Coast Guard (the first dispatch of the Aegis-class destroyer "Sejong King"), the Air Force's F-15K and more than 10 main fighter jets, , and the Army Special Forces Department that defended the Blue House Presidential Office was ordered to dispatch CH-47 helicopters to carry special forces to participate. On the morning of the 26th, the key military exercises participated in the military to prevent the landing of "right-wing elements". The types of weapons used actually exceeded the scale of "guard dispatch", which was similar to conventional military offensive and defensive operations, which undoubtedly made Japan extremely disgusted. South Korea's " Asian Economy " said that after announcing the temporary abolition of the South Korea-Japan Military Intelligence Agreement, the exercise was also regarded as one of the tough measures to "declare war" against Japan.
html Korean soldiers and ships
evidence of South Korea's "declaration of war" on August 25. The previous South Korean Dokdo defense exercise began in 1985 and was held twice a year since 2008. However, due to diplomatic pressure from the United States and Japan, the content of the exercise was never made public without special circumstances. Previously, there was only the exercise in July 2008 that was released in detail, and the only exercise photos were the exercises in October 2013. These two times were also due to Japan's claim of "Soul of Takeshima" that intensified to the extreme. This time, just as South Korea announced the exercise, Japan expressed "strong protest" to South Korea through diplomatic channels. Kim Sugi-jin, director of the Asian Pacific Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned South Korean Minister to Japan Kim Kyung-han to protest. In addition, the Japanese Self-Defense Force also organized firepower training on Mount Fuji on August 25. The Ground Self-Defense Force dispatched 2,400 troops, 80 armored vehicles and more than 20 aircraft, and consumed 35 tons of ammunition within two hours, which attracted the attention of the South Korean military.
South Korea's strength is not as strong as Japan
South Korean sources said that Moon Jae-in The government is considering the time and scale of the second Dokdo exercise this year. Military experts pointed out that South Korea and Japan have been strengthening military measures around disputed territorial issues and secretly competed. Japanese military expert Saburo Takai wrote an article to "Military Research" as early as June 2009, presupposed a "script" of the conflict between Japan and South Korea in Dokdo. Saburo Takai pointed out that "Japan will dispatch combat formations composed of 4 F-2 fighters, 40 F-15J fighters and 4 electronic warfare aircraft to bomb Dokdo Island with the best effect." At the same time, "Japan will also dispatch 4-6 frigates to carry out coordinated operations," but Saburo Takai also foresees that Japanese ships may be attacked by the South Korean Navy and Air Force that have been deployed in advance before arriving in the waters near Dokdo Island. Saburo Takai also pointed out that "after the air force bombed Dokdo, Japan will also send submarines carrying more than 40 special forces members to infiltration and land on combat", and "with the current capabilities of the Self-Defense Force, it can fully perform such combat missions."
Japan F-15J fighter
Weekly North Korea believes that Japan is fully capable of occupying Dokdo according to the above "script". Especially in March last year, the Japanese mainland established the "quasi- Marine Corps " Aquasi- Aquatic and Land Mobile Regiment (ARDG), equipped with a US-made AAV7 amphibious assault vehicle, an airdropable 155mm gun, an MV-22 "Osprey" rotorcraft, etc.In the " Defense White Paper " published in 2014, the Japanese government clearly pointed out that when there is something wrong with the disputed islands in South Korea and Japan, the 3rd guard group stationed in Wuzuru is responsible for the defense mission. The group has 8 large ships including the 17,000-ton light aircraft carrier "Hyuga", the 10,000-ton destroyers "Atgo" and "Migao", and the 3,500-ton Chunyu destroyer. Each ship is equipped with at least one helicopter, which is a veritable "Eight Eight Fleet". The South Korean Navy's 1st Fleet, which is responsible for Dokdo defense, has only 3200-ton destroyers "Yang Wanchun" and "Guangkaitu King", four 2300-ton frigates, with a total tonnage of only one-third of the Japanese third guard group. The Japanese naval self-defense capability is four times that of the South Korean Navy, and it also carries standard SM-3 ship-to-air missiles that can intercept missiles. Military experts pointed out that once a maritime conflict broke out in South Korea and Japan, the 1st Fleet still had the problem of long-distance raids.
Japanese Navy's "Hyuga" light aircraft carrier
South Korean Navy's "Yang Wanchun" destroyer
Because of this, the South Korean military plans to invest 352 billion won to build a forward base near Yuling Island , and plans to deploy missile speedboats to quickly launch operations. South Korean Marine Corps also plans to form the "Strategic Island Defense Command" and the "Yuling Force" guarding Dokdo by 2020. The South Korean Ministry of Defense released the "2020-2024 National Defense Plan" on August 14. In the next five years, South Korea's total military expenditure will reach 290.5 trillion won (approximately RMB 1.68 trillion), and the average annual expenditure will exceed 58 trillion won. According to the plan, the South Korean military will start building a 30,000-ton light aircraft carrier equipped with F-35B fighter jets.
South Korean quasi-aircraft carrier - the amphibious assault ship of Dokdo
The consequences are very serious
After the tension in Japan and South Korea, the military exchanges between the two countries were most far-reachingly affected. South Korea's Ministry of Defense said it plans to organize non-commissioned officers from the army, navy and air force to carry out three-week joint cruise training in October this year. Since last year, the South Korean army has used Russia, Japan and other training destinations, but this year it has clearly excluded Japan. Japan's NHK said that the student exchange program of Japan's mainland self-employed cadres' candidate school and South Korean Army Non-commissioned officer school this year will also be interrupted. Previously, the military of the two countries sent dozens of students to exchange each other every year.
What is more subtle is that the South Korea-Japan standoff will weaken South Korea's position in the US-Japan-South Korea alliance. Bruce Klinner, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation, believes that the Moon Jae-in administration ignores Washington's warning that "don't shake the United States' security interests in Northeast Asia" will undoubtedly damage the US-South Korea alliance. Ken Gauss, head of the US Navy Center for Analysis (CNS), said, "Moon Jae-in's recklessness stimulated Trump to require South Korea to pay higher-scale defense costs, and even completely exclude South Korea from the US-Japan security alliance system in the future."
(Picture source in the article: Internet comprehensive)
Editor Du Yuao
Intern Chen Zhihao
