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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russian and Chinese aircraft conducted an exercise over the East <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword> Sea and Sea of <keyword id="6355311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="japan">Japan</keyword> on Tuesday, prompting responses from <keyword id="5565" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="South-Korea">South Korea</keyword> and Japan.</li><li>It appears to be the first such joint exercise since July 2019, when South Korean aircraft fired hundreds of warning shots and Russian aircraft flying near a group of islets that Seoul and Tokyo both claim.</li></ul><p>A year and a half after <keyword id="6358826" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> and China's first joint aerial patrol over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea, Russian and Chinese bombers carried out another joint patrol in the area.</p><p>South Korea said Tuesday that it had scrambled fighter jets in response to an intrusion by 19 Russian and Chinese military aircraft.</p><p>Four Chinese aircraft entered the Korea Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ) followed by 15 Russian aircraft, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.</p><p>"This incident seems to be a joint military drill between China and Russia but it requires a further analysis," the Joint Chiefs of Staff <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN28W139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.</p><div type="image" title="Russia Tu-95 bomber" height="1316" width="1834" msid="79896579" hostid="261"></div><p>South Korea's military said the Chinese military told Seoul that its planes were conducting routine training before the Chinese aircraft entered the KADIZ. South Korea's military <a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20201222009053325?section=news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the aircraft entered the zone around 8 a.m. local time and left around 3:20 p.m.</p><p>None of the aircraft violated South Korean territorial airspace, the military said.</p><p>Russia's Defense Ministry <a href="https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12331353@egNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers and four Chinese H-6K strategic bombers "carried out aerial patrols over the waters of the Japanese and East China Seas."</p><p>"The aircraft of both countries acted strictly in accordance with the provisions of <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> law. Violations of the airspace of foreign states were not allowed," the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the exercise was "not directed against third countries."</p><p>Russian Su-35S fighter aircraft escorted the bombers, along with A-50U airborne early warning and control aircraft, according to the ministry, which <a href="https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12331353@egNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the bombers were accompanied by Japanese F-15 fighter jets "at certain stages of the route."</p><p>Japan's Defense Ministry released photos of the Russian and Chinese bombers and a map of their flight route, showing them flying through the Ryukyu Islands and through the Korea Strait between Japan and South Korea.</p><div type="image" title="Russia China bomber exercise" height="1296" width="1482" msid="79896590" hostid="261"></div><p>South Korea's Defense Ministry called both Russia and Japan and "expressed concerns" about the incident, according to <a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20201222009053325?section=news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yonhap news agency</a>, which also reported that South Korea's Foreign Ministry "called for measures to prevent a recurrence."</p><p>According to Russian news agency Interfax, Russia's military <a href="https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&amp;nid=543619&amp;lang=RU;lang=RU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> this was the second joint long-range aviation patrol with China in the Asia-Pacific region.</p><p>The first such patrol took place in late July 2019 and prompted a strong response from Japan and South Korea, as the Russian planes involved reportedly flew into airspace around a group of islets that both Seoul and Tokyo claim, calling them <keyword id="1198568" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dokdo">Dokdo</keyword> and <keyword id="1187595" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Takeshima">Takeshima</keyword>, respectively.</p><p>South Korean aircraft fired hundreds of warning shots toward the Russian military aircraft, and both South Korea and Japan accused Russia and China of violating their airspace, which Russia and China both denied.</p><p>The latest patrol reflects the warming relationship between Russia and China, who have grown closer amid worsening tensions with the US and its allies in the region.</p><div type="image" title="China H-6 bomber" height="1230" width="1734" msid="79896602" hostid="261"></div><p>The joint exercise was meant to "develop and deepen the comprehensive Russia-China partnership, further increase the level of cooperation between the two militaries, expand their ability for joint action and strengthen strategic stability," Russia's Defense Ministry <a href="https://apnews.com/article/beijing-vladimir-putin-moscow-russia-east-china-sea-dfe0b31a067eea6311109922c1c263aa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>"The Russians and the Chinese have now entered the stage which I describe as near defense alliance. They're very, very close as two militaries," Alexey Muraviev, a professor at Australia's Curtin University and expert on the Russian military, told Insider in an interview this summer.</p><p>Muraviev said the July 2019 exercise was an example of the Chinese military learning from the Russian military.</p><p>"It wasn't just two pairs of strategic bombers," Muraviev said. "It was also a joint operation involving AWACS aircraft on both sides, so you have surveillance and intelligence systems talking to one another."</p><p>South Korea and Japan's territorial dispute is one of many disagreements the two US allies have, but it has long been "a latent difficulty" in their relationship, according to Sheila Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.</p><p>That dispute has taken on new resonance as Moscow and Beijing grow closer, Smith told Insider in a recent interview.</p><p>"You've got a real sore spot that the Russians and Chinese ... took the moment to demonstrate the vulnerability" of, Smith said of the 2019 exercise. "Prior it was a political bone of contention, but now there's this other element to it where the Russians and the Chinese clearly feel they can exploit the differences between the US allies."</p><p><em>Reuters contributed to this report.</em></p>

Russian and Chinese bombers conducted another joint patrol between South Korea and Japan

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6355311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="japan">Japan</keyword>'s years-long attempt to resolve a century-old territorial dispute with <keyword id="6358826" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> hasn't made progress and remains a source of tension, the top US commander in Japan said this month.</li><li>Those comments were punctuated by Russia's deployment of an advanced air-defense system to the territory, part of a military build up in the region that's seen as directed at the US and Japan.</li></ul><p>Japan's years-long effort to end a longstanding territorial dispute with Russia has been fruitless, the US's top commander in Japan said this month, an assessment underscored by simultaneous military moves by Moscow.</p><p>Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, "there was an ongoing dialogue" with "about two dozen high-level meetings" aimed at settling the dispute over what Russia calls the Kuril Islands, Air Force Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, commander of US forces in Japan, said at an Air Force Association <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VGtdNZ7zk8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> on December 1.</p><p>"How do I say this diplomatically - there's little to no return on investment in any of those conversations," Schneider added. "So that continues to be a source of tension."</p><p>As Schneider spoke, Russia announced the deployment of its advanced S-300V4 air-defense system to the Kurils for combat duty, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN28C0WP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drawing</a> a formal complaint from Japan.</p><div type="image" title="Kuril Island Iturup Soviet tank" height="1333" width="2000" msid="79818570" hostid="261"></div><p>The dispute over the Kurils, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, dates back more than a century. Russia occupied them at the end of World War II, but Japan still claims the islands. As a result, they have never signed a peace treaty ending that war.</p><p>Abe left office in September, and his successor, Yoshihide Suga, spoke to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about the dispute later that month. At the time, Suga <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shinzo-abe-yoshihide-suga-world-war-ii-territorial-disputes-russia-c00569ee896d52c571180b6cf9d64689" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he would "firmly tackle the problem" with Putin, but Suga may not have more success than Abe, whose outreach was repeatedly rebuffed.</p><p>"Abe really put a lot of effort into the personal diplomacy with Putin to try to move the needle" on a resolution, said Sheila Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.</p><p>Smith said Putin "toyed with Abe" by expressing interest in and then spurning the idea of a settlement. A former Russian official described Putin's approach as "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-offer-to-japan-to-end-wwii-island-dispute-may-just-be-trolling-2018-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trolling</a>."</p><p>Abe "probably put too much effort into it, because Putin shifted gears on him repeatedly," Smith told Insider. "There were moments when it should have been pretty clear, I think, to Prime Minister Abe that Putin was not going to lead Russia forward in this."</p><h2>'Antagonism on all fronts'</h2><div type="image" title="Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visits the Southern Kuril Island of Iturup, Russia August 2, 2019. Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev/Pool via REUTERS " height="3667" width="5501" msid="79818571" hostid="261"></div><p>Shorter-range air-defense systems have already been deployed to the Kurils, as have fighter jets and anti-ship missiles, part of a buildup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-russia-to-move-troops-into-new-barracks-on-disputed-islands-near-japan-2018-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the islands</a> and across the region.</p><p>"There's certainly been accelerated push to build up Russian military power in Eastern Siberia and the Far East," Alexey Muraviev, an expert on Russia's military at Australia's Curtain University, told Insider this summer. "That's evident with accelerated capability upgrades of the Russian Pacific Fleet."</p><p>Russia's defense minister <a href="https://tass.com/defense/1201859" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in mid-September that the "military and political situation" in the region "remains tense," but Russia's relations with China have warmed, and the moves are seen as directed at the US and Japan.</p><p>Russian and US ships and aircraft have in recent months <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-russia-tell-different-stories-about-a-confrontation-at-sea-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">operated</a> near each other's <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-bombers/russia-scrambles-jets-to-escort-u-s-bombers-over-okhotsk-sea-interfax-idUSKBN23Q12Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coasts</a> in the North Pacific, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bering-strait-importance-grows-amid-us-russia-tension-arctic-activity-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both see as provocative</a>. Russia is also concerned about the US potentially basing intermediate-range missiles in Japan, as well as Japan's pursuit of the US-made Aegis missile-defense system.</p><p>Schneider said Japanese aircraft scramble 300 times a year in response to Russian activity north of Japan, reflecting what Japan's military sees mainly as an "air-defense mission" on its northern frontier, Smith said.</p><div type="image" title="An aerial photo shows a Chinese marine surveillance ship Haijian No. 66 (C) cruising next to Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in the East China Sea, near what are known as the Senkaku isles in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Kyodo " height="469" width="800" msid="79818574" hostid="261"></div><p>Japan and South Korea also have a dispute over a group of small islands off Japan's west coast - a "latent" dispute, Smith said, but one China and Russia <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/explainer-competing-claims-make-northeast-asian-sea-a-flashpoint-2019-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have seized on to stoke tension</a>.</p><p>"Prior it was a political bone of contention," Smith said of the dispute, "but now there's this other element to it where the Russians and the Chinese clearly feel they can exploit the differences between the US allies."</p><p>Japan faces its most active territorial dispute to the southwest, over the <keyword id="439173" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Senkaku-islands">Senkaku Islands</keyword>, which Japan administers but China claims, calling them the <keyword id="1187443" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Diaoyu-Islands">Diaoyu Islands</keyword>.</p><p>Beijing has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-accuses-china-of-pushing-territorial-claims-during-pandemic-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased its military activity</a> around the islands, and Japan has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-chinas-marine-corps-compares-to-japans-amphibious-force-2020-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boosted its military capabilities</a> in response. Japanese aircraft scramble 600 times a year in response to Chinese activity in the area, Schneider said.</p><p>"Each of these island disputes have different military dimensions to them, but if you're sitting in Tokyo looking north, looking west, and looking south, you've got antagonism on all fronts," Smith said.</p><h2>'Coordinated and coalition responses'</h2><div type="image" title="Japan Kaga carrier sword fighting" height="1005" width="1400" msid="79818577" hostid="261"></div><p>Japan has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-and-uk-joint-exercises-for-first-time-to-gain-an-edge-on-china-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">building up its military</a> and deepening relationships with neighbors to counter <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-india-talk-logistics-and-base-sharing-deal-amid-china-tensions-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">external challenges</a>, particularly from China, but headwinds at home add to an already complex situation.</p><p>Japan faces "an aging economy and low productivity," Hervé Lemahieu, director of the Power and Diplomacy Program at Australia's Lowy Institute think tank, told Insider in October.</p><p>Demographic changes are <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan-s-latest-security-threat-its-declining-birthrate#:~:text=All%20three%20SDF%20branches%20have,challenges%20of%20the%2021st%20century." target="_blank" rel="noopener">a particular problem</a> for Japan's military, which struggles to recruit and retain personnel.</p><p>"On the other hand, [Japan has] only become more influential in terms of its diplomacy," added Lemahieu. Lowy's most recent Asia Power Index <a href="https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/japan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found that Japan</a> "exerts more influence in the region than expected given its available resources" and has made "progress in its regional defence diplomacy."</p><div type="image" title="Japan ground self defense force British troops soldiers exercise" height="803" width="1071" msid="79818578" hostid="261"></div><p>Under Abe, Japan significantly increased its military spending and reinterpreted its constitution to allow its military "to work closely with [the US] military but also with the militaries of Australia, India, and other partners across the Indo-Pacific," Smith told Insider.</p><p>Smith said that there would likely be "a certain amount of momentum" in defense spending under Suga but noted that the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is not yet fully apparent - for Japan and its rivals.</p><p>Japan has handled the pandemic well, "but because a global economic recession now plays into the challenges that Japan already has ... we don't expect Japan to recover until 2027," Lemahieu said.</p><p>"The consequences of that economic shock absolutely are going to affect Japanese ability to invest militarily," which likely means Tokyo will emphasize relationships to make its "defense investments go further," Smith said.</p><p>"I think that's where you will see the Japanese really move as much as they can to build these coordinated and coalition responses" to security challenges, Smith added.</p>

New Russian weapons add to simmering tensions over a lingering territorial dispute in Asia

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Aircraft carriers are usually the centerpiece of a fleet, but only a few navies have them.</li><li>Many more navies have amphibious assault ships or helicopter carriers, which carry aircraft, troops, and gear.</li></ul><p>Few warships get as much attention as aircraft carriers. Massive in size and marvels of engineering, they are essential tools of power projection and symbols of national status.</p><p>Today, eight countries — the US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, India, Russia, and China — operate flattops capable of launching and landing fixed-wing aircraft, but the list grows when amphibious assault ships and helicopter carriers are included.</p><p>Amphibious assault ships and helicopter carriers evolved from the island-hoping campaigns of World War II. They allow for the simultaneous deployment of naval infantry and air support.</p><p>As multipurpose vessels, they can carry out other missions — notably <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/allies-want-more-training-with-us-navy-top-admiral-says-2021-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-submarine warfare</a>.</p><p>While not as imposing as full-fledged flattops, amphibious assault ships and helicopter carriers allow smaller navies to wield capabilities usually reserved to larger maritime powers.</p><h2>San Giorgio-class</h2><div type="image" title="Italy navy amphibious ship San Marco" height="1272" width="2000" msid="94037708" hostid="261" sizebytes="419634"></div><p>The ships of Italy's <a href="https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Amphibious-Ship/San-Giorgio-class.htm" target="_top">San Giorgio-class</a> have been extensively modified since the first one was commissioned in 1988.</p><p>The first two ships, San Giorgio and San Marco, are 436 feet long and displace roughly 7,900 tons. The third, San Giusto, displaces over 8,000 tons.</p><p>The ships were designed as amphibious transport docks and have a well deck that can be flooded so amphibious vehicles can exit and enter. They can carry up to 350 soldiers and as many as 36 armored vehicles. They were initially armed with a bow-mounted 76mm gun, but only San Giusto still has one.</p><div type="image" title="Algerian amphibious ship Kalaat Beni-Abbes" height="1331" width="2000" msid="94037709" hostid="261" sizebytes="171670"></div><p>San Giorgio and San Marco were modified to have full-length decks from which four helicopters — mainly <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/aw101-helicopter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AW101s</a>, <a href="https://weaponsystems.net/system/502-Agusta-Bell+AB-212ASW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AB-212s</a>, or <a href="https://www.marina.difesa.it/EN/thefleet/airfleet/Pagine/NH90.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SH-90s</a> — can operate. As a result, they can only carry two landing craft to transport troops and equipment. San Giusto can only operate one helicopter, but it can carry three landing craft.</p><p>In 2011, Algeria ordered an <a href="https://www.fincantieri.com/en/products-and-services/naval-vessels/enhanced-san-giusto-class/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">improved variant</a> of the San Giorgio-class, which was commissioned as Kalaat Béni Abbès in 2014.</p><p>At 465 feet long, it is larger than its predecessors, though its deck is only 416 feet. It can carry 450 troops and has two landing spots for AW101 or <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/lynx/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Super Lynx</a> helicopters. It is also armed with missiles in two vertical launchers and still has the bow-mounted 76mm gun.</p><h2>Type 0891A/Type 075</h2><div type="image" title="Type 075 (rendering)" height="1520" width="2840" msid="94037710" hostid="261" sizebytes="136190"></div><p>In 1997, China commissioned its first aviation ship, <a href="http://eng.mod.gov.cn/news/2020-07/09/content_4867847_3.htm?yikikata=df6fa307-6a26dfd750d5be8a199ffa57991f3a48" target="_top">the Type 0891A</a>, also known as the Shichang 82. It is 410 feet long and displaces 9,500 tons. Its deck has landing spots for at least two Harbin Z-9 helicopters.</p><p>With no armaments or internal hangar, the Shichang 82 is used almost exclusively for training and transport, but the experience of operating helicopters on it — and intense study of foreign navies — informed the design of China's first real amphibious assault ship, the <a href="https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/08/chinas-amphibious-ships-what-taiwan-fears-most/" target="_top">Type 075-class.</a></p><p>Displacing about 36,000 tons and measuring 778 feet, the Type 075 can carry 30 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-growing-chinese-military-helicopter-fleet-used-against-taiwan-2022-3" target="_top">helicopters</a>, mainly the <a href="https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/changhez8transport/" target="_top">Z-8</a>, <a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=991" target="_top">Z-9</a> and <a href="https://jalopnik.com/china-s-z-20-helicopter-looks-awfully-familiar-1839076626" target="_top">Z-20</a> models. Russian-made <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/ka-52k-katran-helicopter/" target="_top">Ka-52K</a> attack helicopters <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-eyes-russian-attack-helicopters-to-arm-amphib-assault-ships-2021-9" target="_top">may also be part</a> of the air wing.</p><p>Equipped with a floodable well deck, the Type 075s can carry dozens of <a href="https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/08/china-has-the-worlds-fastest-swimming-tanks/" target="_top">armored vehicles</a>, about 900 troops, and multiple hovercraft known as Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC).</p><p>Three Type 075s have been completed — two entered service in 2021 — China plans to have eight in total. There are also reports of interest in a follow-on subclass, the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/07/23/stealth-uavs-could-arm-chinas-type-076-assault-carrier/?sh=63f149216f3d" target="_top">Type 076</a>, which could feature electromagnetic catapults capable of launching fixed-wing drones.</p><h2>Ocean/Atlântico</h2><div type="image" title="BNS Atlântico amphibious assault ship" height="1333" width="2000" msid="94037711" hostid="261" sizebytes="487130"></div><p>In 1998, the British Royal Navy commissioned HMS Ocean, which was designed to carry 800 marines and up to 40 vehicles.</p><p>Ocean didn't have a floodable well deck, but it was equipped with a stern ramp and four sets of davits on its sides to launch landing craft.</p><p>After 20 years in service with the Royal Navy, the ship was sold to Brazil in 2018. It was recommissioned the same year as <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/nam-atlantico-multi-purpose-aircraft-carrier-brazil/" target="_top">Atlântico</a> and was given upgrades. In 2020, Brazil <a href="https://twitter.com/marmilbr/status/1332016015157424129" target="_top">announced</a> that Atlântico could operate fixed-wing drones and tilt-rotor aircraft.</p><p>Its 660-foot deck can handle at least six helicopters simultaneously, mainly a combination of the <a href="http://www.military-today.com/helicopters/ec725_caracal.htm" target="_top">EC725 Caracal</a>, <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/s70b-seahawk/" target="_top">S-70B Seahawk</a>, and <a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=380" target="_top">AS350 Ecureuil</a> models. Its hangar deck can store a total of 18 helicopters.</p><h2>Mistral-class</h2><div type="image" title="French amphibious assault ship LHD Tonnerre (L9014)" height="696" width="928" msid="94037713" hostid="261" sizebytes="55196"></div><p>In 2005, the French Navy commissioned the first of its three <a href="https://www.seaforces.org/marint/French-Navy/Amphibious-Ship/Mistral-class.htm" target="_top">Mistral-class</a> amphibious assault ships. Each has a 652-foot deck and a full displacement of over 21,000 tons.</p><p>The Mistrals can flood their well decks to launch 450 troops, over a dozen vehicles, and four landing craft or two LCACs.</p><p>They can also carry 16 helicopters, six of which can operate on the flight deck at a time. The helicopters most commonly used aboard Mistrals are NH-90s and <a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=335" target="_top">SA 330 Pumas</a>.</p><p>Two Mistrals were built for Russia, but the contract was cancelled after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. The ships were instead sold to Egypt, which <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyCr40FSftQ" target="_top">purchased</a> dozens of Kamov Ka-52K, Kamov Ka-29TB, and Kamov Ka-27P helicopters from Russia — helicopters that Russia was planning to use on its Mistrals.</p><h2>Dokdo-class</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship ROKS Marado" height="1184" width="2000" msid="94037714" hostid="261" sizebytes="445444"></div><p>In 2007, South Korea commissioned ROKS Dokdo, the first of two <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/dodko-class/" target="_top">Dokdo-class</a> amphibious assault ships.</p><p>At 652 feet long and displacing over 18,000 tons, Dokdo-class ships have flat flight decks and floodable well decks. They can carry about 700 marines, roughly a dozen armored vehicles, and two LCACs.</p><p>Each Dokdo can carry up to 15 helicopters, usually a combination of <a href="https://amcmuseum.org/at-the-museum/aircraft/uh-1h-iroquois-huey/" target="_top">UH-1Hs</a> and <a href="https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Republic-Korea-Navy/Aviation/Black-Hawk-ROK.htm" target="_top">UH-60P Black Haw</a><a href="https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Republic-Korea-Navy/Aviation/Black-Hawk-ROK.htm" target="_top">ks</a>. Future air wings will include the <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/05/south-korea-selects-armed-variant-of-kai-marineon-helicopter-for-marine-corps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KAI MUH-1 Marineons</a>.</p><p>The second Dokdo-class vessel, <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/06/south-korea-commissions-second-dokdo-class-amphibious-ship-roks-marado-lph-6112/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ROKS Marado</a>, was commissioned in 2021 and features a number of changes, including vertical launch cells for anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and land-attack missiles, among others.</p><h2>Hyūga, Izumo, and Ōsumi-class</h2><div type="image" title="hyuga japan navy aircraft carrier" height="600" width="840" msid="94037715" hostid="261" sizebytes="45548"></div><p>Not to be outdone, Japan in 2009 commissioned the first of two <a href="https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/equipment/ships/ddh/hyuga/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hyūga-class</a> helicopter destroyers.</p><p>Measuring 646 feet and displacing some 18,000 tons, their air wings usually consist of three SH‐60K Seahawks and one MCH‐101.</p><p>They are also armed with 16 Mk 41 vertical launch missile cells, two Phalanx close-in weapon systems, and two triple-torpedo tubes.</p><div type="image" title="Navy aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan Japanese Izumo" height="876" width="1168" msid="94037716" hostid="261" sizebytes="63196"></div><p>In addition to the two Hyūgas, Japan is converting its two <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-f35bs-landed-on-japans-converted-aircraft-carrier-izumo-2021-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Izumo-class helicopter carriers into full-fledged carriers</a> that can operate F-35B short-takeoff and vertical-landing jets.</p><p>Japan also has three <a href="https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/equipment/ships/lst/osumi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ōsumi-class</a> tank landing ships that are primarily tasked with transporting troops, vehicles, and landing craft but can also operate helicopters on their flat decks.</p><h2>Juan Carlos I</h2><div type="image" title="Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aboard Juan Carlos I" height="1333" width="2000" msid="94037717" hostid="261" sizebytes="187670"></div><p>In 2010, Spain commissioned the <a href="https://naval-technology.com/projects/juan-carlos/" target="_top">Juan Carlos I</a>. At 757 feet long, it has a floodable well deck and can carry up to 24 aircraft, about 900 troops, and over a dozen armored vehicles, in addition to hovercraft and landing craft.</p><p>The Juan Carlos differs from most amphibious assault ships in that it can operate fixed-wing aircraft, making it more similar to the US Navy's <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/wasp/" target="_top">Wasp</a> and <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/americaclassamphibio/" target="_top">America</a> classes.</p><p>The Juan Carlos I has a ski-jump ramp and a deck designed to handle the jet blast from short-takeoff and vertical-landing aircraft, like the AV-8B Harrier II jet and V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. (The ship could support F-35Bs, but Spain has no plans to buy them.)</p><p>Juan Carlos I's air wing is often mixed, with 12 AV-8B Harrier IIs and 12 helicopters, usually a combination of NH-90s, SH-3Ds, AB-212s and CH-47s.</p><h2>Canberra and Anadolu</h2><div type="image" title="Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles HMAS Canberra" height="1369" width="2000" msid="94037718" hostid="261" sizebytes="196202"></div><p>The Juan Carlos I-class is named for a former Spanish king, but Spain isn't the only country that uses it.</p><p>Juan Carlos I is the basis for Australia's two <a href="https://www.navy.gov.au/fleet/ships-boats-craft/lhd" target="_top">Canberra-class</a> vessels, which were partly built by the same Spanish shipyard, and for Turkey's <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/tcg-anadolu-multipurpose-amphibious-assault-ship/" target="_top">TCG Anadolu</a>.</p><p>The Canberra-class kept the ski-jump ramp but can't operate fixed-wing aircraft, carrying 18 helicopters instead. Their air wings are usually made up of MRH-90s and SH-60 Seahawks but can include CH-47s and ARH Tigers.</p><div type="image" title="Recep Tayyip Erdogan amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu" height="1276" width="1701" msid="94037719" hostid="261" sizebytes="75908"></div><p>Turkey's expulsion from the F-35 program meant Ankara couldn't buy F-35Bs, and it <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/2021/03/11/turkey-plans-to-deploy-attack-drones-from-its-amphibious-assault-ship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plans</a> to make TCG Anadolu a drone carrier instead. The new air wing will include a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2022/05/31/will-turkeys-upcoming-bayraktar-tb3-naval-drone-also-become-an-export-success/?sh=19d21caf4abd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">naval variant</a> of the Bayraktar TB2 with foldable wings and an <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/03/turkeys-future-unmanned-fighter-mius-on-final-assembly-line/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unmanned fighter jet currently under development</a>.</p><p>A Turkish official <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/05/here-is-how-uavs-will-be-recovered-aboard-tcg-anadolu/" target="_top">said</a> Anadolu would be able to house up to 80 drones, and Turkey plans to add a short-takeoff but arrested recovery system to the ship in order to launch and retrieve those drones. Anadolu's air wing may also include the Turkish-built T129 ATAK attack helicopter and the planned <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/04/turkey-plans-to-deploy-indigenous-aircraft-hurjet-on-lhd-anadolu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hürjet</a> light attack aircraft.</p><p>Anadolu is expected to enter service later this year, and there are plans for a second vessel, TCG Takya.</p><h2>Wasp and America classes</h2><div type="image" title="USS Wasp" height="797" width="1063" msid="94037720" hostid="261" sizebytes="81038"></div><p>The US Navy has two classes of amphibious assault ships: the Wasp- and America-class.</p><p>USS Wasp entered service in 1989. The 844-foot ship can carry up to five M-1 tanks, about 35 light armored vehicles, and roughly 1,800 Marines. It displaces 40,500 tons fully loaded.</p><p>Eight Wasp-class ships were built, but one, USS Bonhomme Richard, was lost to fire damage in 2020.</p><p>America-class ships, the first of which entered service in 2014, are similar in length but can displace over 44,000 tons. USS America and second-in-class USS Tripoli can also carry roughly 1,800 Marines, but the ships are oriented toward air operations and do not have well decks.</p><div type="image" title="Marine Corps America F-35B lightning carrier" height="933" width="1400" msid="94037721" hostid="261" sizebytes="188286"></div><p>Wasp-class ships can carry about 25 aircraft. A typical air wing consists of six to eight F-35Bs — or up to 20 if they're in what the US military calls <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-commandant-corps-more-unpredictable-with-f35-lightning-carrier-2020-2" target="_top">the "lightning carrier" configuration</a> — and a mix of SH-60 anti-submarine helicopters, UH-1Y utility helicopters, CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters, AH-1Z attack helicopters, and MV-22 tilt-rotors.</p><p>The makeup of an America-class ship's air wing depends on its mission, but its "typical air combat element" includes five F-35Bs, two UH-1Ys, four CH-53Es, 12 MV-22s, two MH-60s, and four AH-1Zs, <a href="https://ingalls.huntingtoningalls.com/our-products/lha/" target="_top">according</a> to Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding.</p><p>Two of the 11 planned America-class ships are in service. The third, the future USS Bougainville, has been under construction since March 2019. Unlike its predecessors, Bougainville will have a well deck to support amphibious operations, which comes in exchange for a smaller aircraft hangar.</p>

The not-quite-aircraft-carriers that the US Navy and other militaries use to carry jets, tanks, and troops into battle

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11944254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="south-korea" source="Orion">South Korea</keyword>'s new president is shifting the country's security focus to threats from <keyword id="11935793" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="north-korea" source="Orion">North Korea</keyword>.</li></ul><p>It has been an eventful year for aircraft carriers in the Indo-Pacific region.</p><p>China recently launched <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-navy-growth-and-search-for-overseas-bases-worries-us-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its newest, most advanced flattop</a>, while India's first domestically built carrier is about <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/boost-to-sea-power-indigenous-aircraft-carrier-ins-vikrant-set-for-final-sea-trials-409549" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to enter service</a>. Japan is also <a href="https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2022/april/11594-navy-of-japan-begins-conversion-of-js-kaga-to-second-aircraft-carrier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">converting</a> its second Izumo-class vessel <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-f35bs-landed-on-japans-converted-aircraft-carrier-izumo-2021-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">into a full-fledged carrier</a>, which will add a second flattop to its fleet.</p><p>South Korea's navy has expertise and resources on par with those navies, but Seoul's ambitions to field its own <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> may soon be scrapped.</p><p>After <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/11/113_318964.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">years of debate</a> about acquiring a carrier, detailed plans for a South Korean light carrier were <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2021/06/11/south-korean-shipbuilders-unveil-competing-carrier-designs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> last year. But President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, looks set to cancel the program, known as <keyword id="14520849" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cvx" source="Orion">CVX</keyword>, in order to invest in weapons better suited to counter the threat posed by North Korea.</p><h2>The CVX carrier</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship ROKS Marado" height="1335" width="2000" msid="93039594" hostid="261" sizebytes="268074"></div><p>South Korea's navy has been working toward achieving blue-water status since the early 2000s. Over the past two decades, it has transformed into a first-rate navy, acquiring advanced vessels like the <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/sejongthegreatclassd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sejong the Great-class</a> destroyers, <a href="https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Republic-Korea-Navy/Submarine/Son-Won-il-class.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Son Won-il-class</a> submarines, and <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/dodko-class/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dokdo-class</a> amphibious assault ships.</p><p>The CVX program, championed by Yoon's predecessor, Moon Jae-in, was to be the latest step in that transformation. The program calls for the construction of a single light carrier that displaces at least 30,000 tons, carries 20 F-35B fighters, and could be commissioned by 2033.</p><p>Two designs have been proposed by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, both of which have contracts with companies that have built carriers for European navies.</p><div type="image" title="Navy amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard Dokdo" height="1360" width="2000" msid="93039595" hostid="261" sizebytes="229184"></div><p>Hyundai Heavy Industries' <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/madex-2021/2021/06/madex-2021-hhi-unveils-new-cvx-aircraft-carrier-design/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">design</a> would be 885 feet long and displace 30,000 to 35,000 tons. It would carry 16 F-35Bs in its hangar and eight more on its deck, in addition to helicopters. The design includes two command islands, deck space for drone aircraft, a well deck for unmanned vessels, and 16 <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/madex-2021/2021/06/hanwha-defense-details-kvls-ii-development-at-madex-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vertical-launch missile cells</a>.</p><p>Hyundai's carrier would have a ski-jump ramp, though building it with an angled flight deck and a catapult system may be possible.</p><p>Daewoo Shipbuilding's <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/madex-2021/2021/06/madex-2021-dsme-unveils-its-cvx-light-aircraft-carrier-design/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">design</a> would be 862 feet long and displace about 45,000 tons. It would carry 12 F-35Bs on its deck and 16 more in its hangar, as well as several helicopters. Daewoo's version would also have two command islands and a straight deck similar to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-commandant-corps-more-unpredictable-with-f35-lightning-carrier-2020-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the US's America-class and Wasp-class ships</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-f35bs-landed-on-japans-converted-aircraft-carrier-izumo-2021-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japan's Izumo-class ships</a>.</p><h2>Need vs. cost</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea Yoon Suk-yeol Paul LaCamera Kim Seung-kyum" height="1435" width="2000" msid="93039596" hostid="261" sizebytes="256940"></div><p>CVX proponents <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/why-south-koreas-aircraft-carrier-makes-sense/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argue</a> that the carrier gives South Korea a mobile air strip to use if North Korea attacks its airfields and the ability to launch attacks on North Korea from different avenues of approach. They also argue it would be valuable in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/explainer-competing-claims-make-northeast-asian-sea-a-flashpoint-2019-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other disputes</a> and if Seoul needed to protect its interests abroad, such as in the sea lanes vital to its trade and energy supplies.</p><p>CVX's detractors mainly <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/south-korea-pushes-ahead-with-aircraft-carrier-only-its-admirals-want/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argue</a> that its costs outweigh its potential uses, especially considering the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-north-koreas-and-south-koreas-navies-compare-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comparative weakness of North Korea's navy</a>. Building the CVX is expected to cost $2 billion, with another $45 million or so needed each year to maintain it.</p><p>That price doesn't include the F-35Bs, the helicopters, and the potential unmanned vehicles, which could increase to overall cost to as much as $5 billion, or almost 11% of South Korea's <a href="https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/south-korea-finalises-usd4632-billion-defence-budget-for-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entire defense budget for 2022</a>.</p><p>"That's a huge whack out of a very small military budget," Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation think tank, told Insider. "What President Yoon is going to have to take a look at is what's his opportunity costs for building such a carrier? What other goods is he losing because he goes in that direction and builds it?"</p><p>The cost estimate for the CVX program also only accounts for one carrier. "Having one carrier does not a carrier force make," Bennett said, noting that carriers need to spend months at a time in port for training and maintenance.</p><p>If Yoon "really wants to have a viable carrier force of even one carrier at sea continuously, he's got to have two to three carriers," Bennett added.</p><h2>Competing priorities</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea military soldiers troops" height="1333" width="2000" msid="93039597" hostid="261" sizebytes="185460"></div><p>Meanwhile, the rest of South Korea's military is also pushing for other high-cost projects.</p><p>South Korea's army has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/south-koreas-military-modernization-bigger-problem-than-north-korea-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extensive modernization needs</a>, while its navy also wants to pursue other major programs, including acquisition of more <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-south-koreas-new-submarine-launched-missile-sets-it-apart-2021-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dosan Ahn Changho-class</a> submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles, and three more modernized Sejong the Great-class destroyers. There is also talk of developing a <a href="https://asiatimes.com/2022/06/south-korea-has-nuclear-subs-firmly-in-its-sights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear-powered submarine</a>.</p><p>The "Kill Chain" and "Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation" <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2021/02/south-korea-conventional-capabilities-and-the-future-of-the-korean-peninsula/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strategies</a> require more <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-south-korea-test-missiles-amid-north-korean-launches-2022-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investment in ballistic missiles</a> and aircraft, with South Korea's air force favoring the F-35A and the <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2022/07/19/KF-21-Boramae-test-flight-fighter-jet/5711658231872/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KF-21</a>.</p><p>The Korean Aerial Missile Defense strategy also requires more sophisticated missile interceptors. Seoul wants to build up its own <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2021/10/22/south-korea-seeks-to-develop-missile-defense-against-n-koreas-artillery-barrage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">layered air-defense</a> and <a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220223008600325" target="_blank" rel="noopener">missile-defense</a> systems, and during his campaign, Yoon <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/South-Korea-election/Yoon-s-pledge-to-boost-THAAD-missile-system-risks-China-reprisal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicated</a> that he wanted to deploy more US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batteries.</p><div type="image" title="South Korea F-35" height="933" width="1400" msid="93039598" hostid="261" sizebytes="82046"></div><p>The case for those weapons seems stronger than that of CVX, as they are better suited to counter the most likely North Korean threats than an aircraft carrier, aligning them with Yoon's efforts to focus more attention and resources on the North.</p><p>Officials in Yoon's administration have described a need to reevaluate defense priorities, which has been interpreted as meaning the CVX would be canceled. The <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/07/south-koreas-new-f-35a-purchase-may-kill-cvx-program/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=south-koreas-new-f-35a-purchase-may-kill-cvx-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent approval</a> of preliminary plans to acquire 20 more F-35As is seen as a more concrete move away from the carrier.</p><p>Even without CVX, South Korea's navy remains a potent force and will continue to evolve.</p><p>"They've gotten a lot of investment in their upper-end destroyers, their submarines have been built, and they now have SLBMs," Bennett said. "The Navy hasn't gotten the blue-water navy capability they want yet, but they are moving in that direction."</p>

South Korea's new hardline on North Korea may mean the end of its plans to build its first aircraft carrier

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="5565" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="South-Korea">South Korea</keyword>'s navy has rapidly grown and modernized into a first-rate force.</li><li><keyword id="13473" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="North-Korea">North Korea</keyword>'s navy is large, but its ships are out-gunned and mostly antiquated.</li><li>South Korea's navy would have an edge in a conflict, but North Korea's navy, especially its subs, would still pose a threat.</li></ul><p>Last month, two of South Korea's largest shipbuilders <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2021/06/11/south-korean-shipbuilders-unveil-competing-carrier-designs/" target="_top">unveiled</a> designs and concept models for the country's future aircraft carrier, known as CVX.</p><p>Both designs feature two islands - similar to the UK's Queen Elizabeth-class carriers - and will carry 24 to 28 F-35B stealth fighters. South Korea hopes to have its first CVX in service by 2033.</p><p>Though it will be considerably smaller than US aircraft carriers, the CVX will be an important step toward South Korea's goal of building a blue-water navy able to project power around the world.</p><p>The new carrier is also the latest example of how the South Korean military is preparing for a potential conflict with its nuclear-armed northern neighbor.</p><h2>South Korea's first-rate navy</h2><div type="image" title="South Korean navy frigate firing weapons" height="1342" width="2000" msid="84441464" hostid="261"></div><p>The growth and modernization of the Republic of Korea Navy, or ROKN, is one of the great naval success stories.</p><p>What started 70 years ago as a small coastal force of patrol boats has become a large, first-rate navy that is mostly domestically designed and built and already has some ability to operate on the high seas.</p><p>It includes some 100 surface warships, 10 amphibious ships, 18 submarines, and 60 aircraft. Many of its surface vessels have vertical launch systems and advanced electronic suites that put them on par with the best warships in the world.</p><p>South Korea's three <a href="https://www.military-today.com/navy/sejong_the_great_class.htm" target="_top">Sejong the Great-class</a> destroyers are each armed with 128 missiles, more than US Arleigh Burke-class and Japanese Atago-class destroyers, which each have 96 missiles. Its six <a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.php?ship_id=ROKS-Chungmugong-Yi-Sun-Sin-DDH975" target="_top">Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class</a> destroyers feature stealth technology and have deployed as far as the Arabian Sea.</p><div type="image" title="South Korean navy submarine Son Won-il" height="2988" width="2000" msid="84441465" hostid="261"></div><p>Its two <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/dodko-class/" target="_top">Dokdo-class amphibious assault ships</a> can carry over 700 Marines, 13 armored vehicles, and about a dozen helicopters. The second Dokdo-class vessel was <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/06/south-korea-commissions-second-dokdo-class-amphibious-ship-roks-marado-lph-6112/" target="_top">commissioned</a> in June.</p><p>In addition to operating in its home waters, South Korea's navy participates in <a href="https://navalpost.com/south-korean-navy-sends-2-destroyers-to-u-s-led-rimpac-exercise/" target="_top">exercises</a> around the world and even has a <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200121000803" target="_top">dedicated anti-piracy unit</a>, known as the Cheonghae Unit, in the Indian Ocean that has <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/21/south.korea.pirate.rescue/" target="_top">rescued</a> Korean crew members from hijacked vessels.</p><p>South Korea is also a shipbuilding <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210610000685" target="_top">powerhouse</a>, which will support its continued naval modernization.</p><p>Its navy already has plans to further <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/madex-2021/2021/06/madex-2021-update-on-rok-navys-kdx-ii-performance-improvement-project/" target="_top">upgrade</a> its destroyers, is building a <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/madex-2021/2021/06/madex-2021-hanwha-systems-unveils-new-combat-system-for-ffx-batch-iii/" target="_top">new class of frigates</a>, and has launched the first two boats of the new <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/madex-2021/2021/06/south-koreas-kss-iii-batch-2-submarine-to-feature-both-aip-and-li-ion-batteries/" target="_top">Dosan Ahn Changho-class submarine</a>, which <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/07/south-korea-conducts-submarine-launched-ballistic-missile-test/" target="_top">may soon get</a> domestically made submarine-launched ballistic missiles.</p><h2>North Korea's old, under-gunned fleet</h2><div type="image" title="A North Korean navy patrol boat" height="1275" width="2000" msid="84441468" hostid="261"></div><p>According to South Korea's <a href="https://www.mnd.go.kr/user/mnd/upload/pblictn/PBLICTNEBOOK_202102021153057640.pdf" target="_top">Ministry of Defense</a>, North Korea's navy, officially known as the Korean People's Navy, or KPN, has 430 surface combatants (mostly patrol vessels), 70 submarines, and 250 amphibious vessels.</p><p>Despite its size, North Korea's fleet is under-gunned and largely antiquated.</p><p>"What isn't totally antiquated is not in large numbers and is still not all that modern or capable," Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation think tank, told Insider.</p><p>"This is not a navy which is going to come crashing out of their bases and do a major stand against the ROKN and US navies, unless they anticipate losing most of that capability very quickly," he added.</p><p>In the past, North Korea's navy was more of a match for South Korea's navy, as demonstrated by a number of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-north-clashes/factbox-the-battles-of-the-korean-west-sea-idUSTRE6AS1AL20101129" target="_top">deadly naval provocations</a> around the <keyword id="421916" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Korean-peninsula">Korean Peninsula</keyword>.</p><p>But South Korea's continued modernization has made it a much more powerful force. Those advances, and the <keyword id="1615987" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="North-Korean-navy">North Korean navy</keyword>'s relative decline, mean Seoul would likely win a conventional fight.</p><div type="image" title="North Korean navy Najin-class corvette" height="1381" width="2000" msid="84441471" hostid="261"></div><p>"The ROKN really one-on-one is going to be just dominant, and the KPN can't play the game that way," Bennett said. "They've got to look for asymmetric approaches to using [their ships] effectively."</p><p>North Korea has tried to build more advanced ships, like <a href="https://associationofgeostrategicanalysis.com/north-koreas-new-nongo-class-surface-effect-ship/" target="_top">missile-laden surface effect vessels</a> with possible stealth features, but the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-north-korea-would-use-submarine-fleet-in-a-war-2021-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">real threat comes from its submarines</a>.</p><p>"Even though the KPN is antiquated in many ways, some of the submarines that they've made to operate in the shallow waters are potentially fairly potent," Bennett said.</p><p>In 2010, a North Korean submarine <a href="http://nautilus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Cheonan.pdf" target="_top">sank</a> a South Korean corvette in the Yellow Sea just south of the countries' <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/the-origins-the-northern-limit-line-dispute" target="_top">de facto maritime boundary</a>, killing 46 sailors. The KPN has used the same type of submarines to <a href="https://warisboring.com/a-short-history-of-north-koreas-long-mini-submarine-spy-campaign/" target="_top">insert</a><a href="https://warisboring.com/a-short-history-of-north-koreas-long-mini-submarine-spy-campaign/" target="_top"> agents</a> into South Korea.</p><p>The KPN is also acquiring subs capable of firing nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. The KPN operates <a href="http://www.hisutton.com/Analysis%20-%20Sinpo%20Class%20Ballistic%20Missile%20Sub.html" target="_top">at least one submarine</a> supposedly capable of firing one or two such missiles, and <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29122/north-koreas-new-ballistic-missile-submarine-is-a-refurbished-antique" target="_top">another </a><a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29122/north-koreas-new-ballistic-missile-submarine-is-a-refurbished-antique" target="_top">class</a> that's under construction will potentially be able to fire three.</p><h2>A maritime front</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea raises patrol boat sunk during clash with North Korea" height="1216" width="1621" msid="84441476" hostid="261"></div><p>Both countries' navies would play an important role should war break out.</p><p>For the KPN, the first goal will be to try and insert as many agents and commandos into South Korea as possible before any fighting starts. North Korea's navy as a whole will try to take on South Korea's fleet wherever and, more importantly, however possible.</p><p>Because of South Korea's naval superiority, the KPN will have to rely on either stealth or numbers. Its submarines may be able to operate effectively in the Yellow Sea, where shallow waters make finding submarines hard, as the 2010 attack demonstrated. (Shallow waters also limit what operations subs can do.)</p><p>East of the peninsula, the Sea of Japan is deeper and North Korea's options are limited. Its ships will likely only have success if they operate in groups and swarm isolated vessels.</p><p>North Korean subs will also likely attempt to cut off South Korea's imports.</p><div type="image" title="north korea submarine" height="2334" width="3500" msid="84441480" hostid="261"></div><p>South Korea <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/country/KOR" target="_top">relies</a> almost entirely on imported fuel, and while some reinforcements can be transported by air, large numbers of troops and heavy equipment have to come by sea.</p><p>"North Korea has got to anticipate sending its navy either into shallow waters where it's difficult to detect … or they've got to send them out in groups and see how well the groups potentially survive," Bennett said.</p><p>South Korea's navy, meanwhile, will focus on protecting its sea lanes, destroying North Korean warships from afar, defending its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26815124" target="_top">northwest islands</a> from a possible invasion, and supporting ground operations.</p><p>An aircraft carrier will be vital for that last role.</p><p>North Korea's nuclear arsenal - <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA1015-1.html#download" target="_top">believed</a> to be between 67 and 116 warheads - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/south-koreas-military-modernization-bigger-problem-than-north-korea-2021-2" target="_top">poses a major threat</a> to South Korean airfields, so a mobile aircraft carrier could make a massive difference.</p><p>A carrier can only operate a limited number of planes and only for so long, but a protracted conflict would likely draw in South Korean allies, namely the US and UK, with navies that can strike deep inside North Korea.</p><p>Those partners are helping South Korea develop its carrier capabilities. South Korean sailors and naval airmen have already <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/1123717/us-south-korean-navies-to-hold-partnership-exercises/" target="_top">operated alongside</a> US carriers, and <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/10/uk-naval-industry-eyes-technology-transfer-for-south-koreas-lpx-ii-project/#prettyPhoto" target="_top">British</a> and <a href="https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2021/june/10285-italy-and-south-korea-to-work-together-for-cvx-future-aircraft-carrier-for-south-korean-navy.html" target="_top">Italian</a> firms are assisting South Korea with the CVX.</p>

How a war between North and South Korea could quickly become a naval showdown

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Yuri Kim, 30, is the Acquisition Marketing Director for Consumer Subscriptions at Insider. </li><li>She volunteered to have her <keyword id="11896780" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="skincare" source="Orion">skincare</keyword> routine critiqued by licensed aesthetician <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brittaneytrent/">Brittaney Trent</a>.</li><li>Trent said while Yuri's overall routine is great, cutting down on products could be just as good for her skin - and wallet.</li></ul><p>Yuri Kim, the Acquisition Marketing Director of consumer subscriptions at Insider, signed up to have her extensive skincare routine reviewed by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brittaneytrent/?hl=en">licensed aesthetician Brittaney Trent. </a></p><p>Kim, 30, has combination skin and told us she wants to reduce wrinkles and the appearance of pores, and prevent sunspots.</p><p>Trent analyzed Kim's routine, which includes 15 products, and told Insider what she would change about Yuri's routine to save time and money.</p><h2>Yuri's routine is in the correct order, but she should condense her three serums into one step</h2><p>Yuri starts her day by cleansing her face with the Acwell 5.5 pH Balancing Micro Cleansing Foam, toning her skin with 1025 Dokdo Toner, putting on three serums, moisturizing with Peter Thomas Roth Mega-Rich Intensive <keyword id="11931732" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="anti-aging" source="Orion">Anti-Aging</keyword> Cellular Creme, and topping it off with EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46. </p><p>Trent told Insider Yuri nailed the order her routine should be in. </p><p>"In the morning, you want to always start with your cleanser, toner, antioxidant serum, eye cream, <keyword id="11931734" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="moisturizer" source="Orion">moisturizer</keyword>, then SPF," Trent told Insider. </p><p>Because Yuri's primary concern is premature aging, Trent said she should focus on finding products that contain <a href="https://www.insider.com/ways-to-treat-acne-and-dark-spots-on-your-back-2021-6">vitamin C and vitamin E for dark spots</a>, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/vitamin-a-for-skin#:~:text=Vitamin%20A%20reduces%20fine%20lines%20and%20wrinkles&amp;text=Antioxidants%20counter%20the%20formation%20of,lines%20and%20wrinkles%2C%20Lolis%20says.ays.">vitamin A</a> for wrinkles. </p><p>"Yuri's routine does contain these ingredients, but unfortunately she's doubling (sometimes tripling) up with her product choices morning and night-and she doesn't need to," Trent told Insider. "Plus, pairing down her routine will not only help her skin <keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">health</keyword>, it will save her some money as well." </p><p>Kim said she uses Skinceuticals CE Ferulic serum, Caudalie Vinoperfect serum, and Peter Thomas Roth Mega-Rich Intensive Anti-Aging Cellular Creme, all at the same time. Trent said she can pick one because they all contain vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin A which moisturizes the skin and reduces the appearance of dark spots.</p><p>She said Yuri can nix her third serum, The Ordinary Buffet with Copper Peptides, entirely because the product is not meant to be used with other brightening products. </p><h2>Trent warns double cleansing can clog pores and cause 'extreme dryness' for people with normal to dry skin </h2><p>At night, Yuri likes to double cleanse by using an oil-based cleanser to take off her makeup, Shu Uemura POREfinist2 sakura refreshing cleansing oil, and she follows up with a foam cleanser to clean her skin, Missha Super Aqua Ultra Hyaluron Cleansing Cream. </p><p>Trent said while this routine can be good for people who wear heavy makeup or have oily skin, it can have adverse effects on people with combination skin like Yuri. </p><p>"I would be careful here because sometimes double cleansing can be stripping and cause oily skin to produce more sebum (oil) and can cause severe dryness with normal to dry skin types," Trent said. </p><p>Trent told Insider that Yuri's overall routine is full of great products with anti-aging ingredients suited to her skin. However, sometimes less is more. </p><p>"Overall, Yuri's skin looks great and is doing a great job with her routine," Trent said. "All she needs to do is pair down some of these products a bit. Less is more, your routine doesn't need to be complicated. Trust me, your skin (and wallet) will thank you later!"</p>

I'm a 30-year-old who uses 15 skin care products to fight wrinkles. An expert said I should keep 6 and ditch the rest.

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Google Maps / Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">The Dokdo, or Takeshima, Islands disputed by South Korea and Japan.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Russian and Chinese aircraft intruded in South Korean and Japanese airspace on Tuesday, causing both countries to scramble jets in response. South Korea fired 360 warning shots in response to one of the Russian aircraft, reportedly an airbone early warning plane.</strong></li><li><strong>It was the first time Russia and China cooperated on an air patrol, and with nuclear-capable bombers. The exercise inflamed tensions between South Korea and Japan, two US allies which are engaged in a long-standing territorial dispute in the region. </strong></li><li><strong>Some experts believe that the move was directed at the US, to signal the fragility of its alliances in the contested region.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/">Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories. </a></strong></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Tuesday, Russian and Chinese nuclear-capable bombers provoked tensions between South Korea and Japan, the US's most important allies in the Pacific. That Japan and South Korea both scrambled jets to respond to the intrusions was a bonus - what they really wanted was to send a message to the US.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier on Tuesday morning, two Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS bombers jets flew over the Sea of Japan and the South China Sea. They were joined by two Chinese H-6K long-range bombers for their first joint air patrol using long-range aircraft in the region, <a href="https://tass.com/defense/1069966">Russian state media reported. </a></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Russia flew a</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control airplane over the Dokdo Islands in the Sea of Japan, which Japan calls the Takeshima Islands and claims as its own.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The joint patrol near the disputed island was likely a message to the US about the "durability" of its closest alliances in the region, an Asia-Pacific security expert told INSIDER. </span></p><p><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/asia/south-korea/history-dispute-photos-dodko-rocks-islands/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Dokdo Islands</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are symbolic of the long-simmering hostilities between South Korea and Japan, which overtook the Korean peninsula by force in 1910 and </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/who-are-comfort-women-why-are-u-s-based-memorials-n997656"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ruled brutally until the end of World War II</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The A-50 did not respond to repeated radio warnings from South Korea, making it the first Russian military aircraft to intrude on South Korea's airspace.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The A-50 flew over the disputed territory twice, just after 9:00 AM local time, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-russia-aircraft/first-russian-chinese-air-patrol-in-asia-pacific-draws-shots-from-south-korea-idUSKCN1UI072">according to Reuters. </a></span></p><p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Read more</strong>: </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/royal-air-force-russian-aircraft-scramble-2019-6"><span style="color: #000000;">British fighters intercepted Russian jets twice this weekend, as NATO conducts war games in the Baltics</span></a></em></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">F-15K and F-16K fighter jets from South Korea's Air Force fired 360 warning shots at the Russian aircraft, which is used to track an adversaries' ships and aircraft. Russia denied that the exercise was aimed at Japan or South Korea. Japan's Air Self <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Force scrambled jets to escort the jets, which Japan said flew over the islands of Okinawa and Miyako, The Diplomat quoted the Japanese Ministry of Defense as saying. The aircraft also flew into South Korea's air defense identification zone, or KADIZ, which is not considered sovereign air space. The Tu-95MS bombers stayed in the KADIZ for 93 minutes, and the H-6Ks stayed for 84 minutes, <a href="https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190723005456325">South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Japan's foreign minister admonished South Korea for responding, telling The Japan Times that since the islands belong to Japan, it was Japan's responsibility to protect them.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It is incompatible with Japan's stance that South Korea takes steps on that," </span><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/23/asia-pacific/south-korea-fires-warning-shots-russia-warplanes/#.XTdX75NKhTZ"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Ono said Tuesday. </span></a></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The very pointed intrusions may have been "testing the durability" of US alliances in the region, according to Natasha Kuhrt, an Asian security expert in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Russia and China know that there are these conflicts in these region," Kuhrt told INSIDER. Exacerbating long-standing conflicts between South Korea and Japan was "more of a signaling device" to the US about the fragility of its alliances in the region, rather than a direct threat to either of those countries. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>While Russia has its own territorial dispute with Japan, "It's not really in Russia's interests to damage relations with South Korea," which does trade with Russia, Kuhrt said. "It's probably more to signal to the US."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In particular, Russia and China have long been perturbed about the location of the US's <span>Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense systems, which include Romania and South Korea. Both countries say the system destabilizes the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2110106/south-korea-installs-four-more-us-thaad-launchers-counter">region and China in particular worries that the US will use the system against their missiles. </a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>Kuhrt cautioned against reading too much into the military cooperation between China and Russia. "In my view, there is cooperation, but I don't see there being very in-depth cooperation," she said.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Russia's aggression is part of an ongoing pattern; in June, it flew over Estonian airspace during a June NATO exercise, and near Alaska this past May. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airport-customs-border-patrol-how-illegal-items-found-destroyed-jfk-2019-7">Customs and border officials at JFK airport check 1,000 bags an hour for narcotics and illicit food. Here's where the contraband goes.</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Russia and China's first joint bomber patrol got a swift response from Japan and South Korea, but the message was intended for the US

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Navy Photo</span></p><p class="caption">South Korea's ROKS Dokdo helicopter carrier.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>With a minor change, South Korea could turn its next small helicopter destroyer into a full-fledged aircraft carrier with a few F-35Bs.</strong></li><li><strong>The F-35B would provide unprecedented sea power.</strong></li><li><strong>South Korea would possibly have the ability to shoot down ballistic missile launches.</strong></li></ul><p>As tensions between the US, North Korea, and South Korea reach a fever pitch, military planners in Seoul are considering turning one of their small Dokdo-class helicopter carriers into an F-35B carrier.</p><p>"The military top brass have recently discussed whether they can introduce a small number of F-35B fighters" to new South Korean helicopter carrier ships, a military source <a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2017/12/25/0301000000AEN20171225001500315.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency</a>.</p><p>South Korea operates a small but capable navy featuring a single 14,000 ton helicopter carrier known as the ROKs Dokdo. Seoul is planning to build an additional two ships of this type, with the next expected to be ready in 2020.</p><p>The ships can support up to 10 helicopters. For scale, US Nimitz class aircraft carriers displace <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-aircraft-carrier-wing-every-plane-helicopter-2016-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100,000 tons and can support around 80 aircraft</a>, both planes and helicopters.</p><p>But the F-35's Marine variant, the F-35B, isn't a regular plane. It can <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/f35b-short-takeoff-uss-america-2016-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">takeoff almost vertically and also land straight down</a>. With minor adjustments to the already-planned aircraft building - mainly strengthening the runway material to withstand the friction and heat of jet engines landing - South Korea's small helicopter carriers could become potent F-35B carriers.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/An_F-35B_Lightning_II_aircraft_lands_aboard_the_amphibious_assault_ship_USS_Wasp_%28LHD_1%29.jpg">upload.wikimedia.org</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>South Korea already plans to buy 40 F-35As, the Air Force variant that takes off and lands on runways like a normal plane. The F-35B would be a new addition that would require additional planning and infrastructure.</p><p>Should South Korea decide to make the leap into the aircraft-carrier club, they would end up as a potent sea power and with a plane that's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/f-35-intercept-north-korean-icbm-but-would-be-war-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">capable of taking down ballistic missile launches</a>. With its advanced sensors and networking ability, the F-35 could provide a massive boost to South Korea's already impressive naval capabilities.</p><p>Additionally, the presence of stealth aircraft in South Korea presents a <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/f-22s-show-of-force-north-korea-december-2017-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nightmare scenario for Kim Jong Un</a>, whose country's rudimentary defenses and radars can't hope to spot advanced aircraft like the F-35. </p><p><span>The F-35B has </span><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/psychological-effect-f-35-stealth-legacy-fighter-2017-5?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">excellent stealth characteristics</a><span> that mean North Korea wouldn't even know if the planes were overhead.</span></p><p>The US built the F-35 to<span> </span><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/f-35-russia-china-radar-counter-stealth-2017-5?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">penetrate the most heavily guarded airspaces on earth</a><span> </span>and to fool the most advanced anti-aircraft systems for decades to come. Built to counter superpowers like China and Russia, the F-35 could handily overpower anything North Korea could throw at it.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-explains-end-shower-cold-water-2017-3">A Navy SEAL explains why you should end a shower with cold water</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

South Korea is looking into an aircraft carrier full of F-35s, which would be a nightmare for Kim Jong Un

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Despite <keyword id="13473" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="North-Korea">North Korea</keyword>'s flashy displays of weaponry, <keyword id="5565" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="South-Korea">South Korea</keyword>'s military is still seen as having qualitative and technological advantages.</li><li>But Seoul's foundering effort to modernize its forces over the past two decades means it may not be equipped to fend off a North Korean attack.</li></ul><p>In the dead of night on January 14, North Korea <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2021/jan/15/kim-jong-un-puts-on-show-of-force-at-end-of-workers-party-congress-in-pictures" target="_top">held</a> yet another military parade in Pyongyang.</p><p>It was essentially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-showed-off-new-missiles-armor-weapons-in-parade-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a repeat of the military parade in October</a>, which was <a href="https://www.38north.org/2020/10/ichun102120/" target="_top">described</a> as a "new look" for the Korean People's Army (KPA), showcasing new tanks, missiles, armored vehicles, uniforms, and other military equipment.</p><p>The parades are likely to compound already significant fears among South Koreans about the strength of their military.</p><p>According to a 2020 survey by the Korean Institute for National Unification, 40% of South Koreans believe North Korea's military is stronger than the South's, while just 32% believe that South Korea's military is stronger.</p><p>While that may come as a shock given the South Korean military's qualitative and technological advantages, it stems from very real problems it faces in its demographics, the pace and scale of its modernization, and its funding.</p><p>Together, these are serious issues for South Korea's military, especially its Army, and could seriously affect its ability to fend off an attack from the North.</p><h2>Defense Reform 2020</h2><div type="image" title="south korea" height="3456" width="5184" msid="80672462" hostid="261"></div><p>The South Korean military's current predicaments were foreseen. In 2005, the South Korean government, noticing the country's <a href="https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/south-korea-aims-turn-around-extreme-birth-rate-crisis" target="_top">declining birth rate</a>, enacted a plan to downsize the military, well over half of which is made up of draftees.</p><p>The intention was to replace it with a much more technologically advanced force - a quality-over-quantity model similar to that adopted by Western militaries during the Cold War.</p><p>To that end, the government created the <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP165.html" target="_top">Defense Reform Plan 2020</a> (DRP). It called for a reduction from about 682,000 troops to 500,000 by 2020, with almost all of the cuts coming from the Army. Additionally, the length of required service was reduced for each branch.</p><p>It also called for an annual increase to the defense budget of up to 10% to replace aging hardware with modern systems.</p><p>At the time, South Korea's armored force was made up mostly of early Cold War-era M48 tanks, while its Air Force relied on F-4 and F-5 fighter jets. These were to be replaced by modern K1 and K2 tanks and F-16, F-15, and eventually F-35 fighters. The Navy was also expected to get a number of new vessels, including submarines and amphibious assault ships.</p><h2>Budget cuts and technical issues</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea Army soldiers troops self-propelled howitzer" height="1333" width="2000" msid="80672464" hostid="261"></div><p>The plan ran into financial trouble almost immediately.</p><p>The budget increases never hit the 10% mark, and the military was also forced to increase monthly wages for draftees to address the growing unpopularity of conscription. Volunteer wages were also increased in order to attract badly needed full-time professionals. Neither of these additional costs were part of the original plan.</p><p>To make matters worse, technical issues caused cost overruns on the K2 program, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/asia/24korea.html" target="_top">North Korean a</a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/asia/24korea.html" target="_top">ttacks</a> on South Korean islands in 2010 forced the military to invest more in its Marine Corps and in <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/11/205_217259.html" target="_top">preemptive and retaliatory measures</a>.</p><p>These unforeseen costs, along with other domestic political priorities, forced cuts to the reform plan, mostly to research and development and acquisition.</p><p>The original order of over 1,000 K2 tanks was reduced substantially; about 260 are in service today. Only two of the planned nine domestically built KSS III submarines have been launched, and neither have been commissioned.</p><h2>An Army left behind</h2><div type="image" title="South Korea F-35" height="933" width="1400" msid="80672466" hostid="261"></div><p>South Korea's military is now one of the most modern in Asia, but most of the modernization funding that has arrived has gone to the Air Force and Navy.</p><p>The Air Force now has over 100 F-16, 59 F-15, and 24 F-35A fighter jets. The Navy operates 17 advanced guided-missile destroyers and frigates, one Dokdo-class helicopter carrier (with another on the way), and a number of capable submarines.</p><p>The Air Force and Navy <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/09/south-korea-to-double-down-on-f-35-and-procure-stovl-variant-for-lpx-ii/" target="_top">pla</a><a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/09/south-korea-to-double-down-on-f-35-and-procure-stovl-variant-for-lpx-ii/" target="_top">n</a> to acquire another 40 F-35s, with 20 of them to be based on the Navy's future <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/01/south-korea-officially-starts-lpx-ii-aircraft-carrier-program/" target="_top">LPX-II light aircraft carriers</a>.</p><p>The Army, by comparison, has been left behind, with some units <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/korean-defense-reform-history-and-challenges/" target="_top">lacking</a> basic equipment like night-vision goggles, <a href="https://www.nknews.org/2015/09/defenseless-lawmaker-experts-decry-south-korean-body-armor-shortage/" target="_top">body armor</a>, machine guns, and optics for weapons.</p><p>The shortages have been so bad that an Army <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/risky-business-south-koreas-secret-military-deal-with-uae/" target="_top">deployment</a> to the UAE had to borrow equipment from special forces units.</p><div type="image" title="South Korea military soldiers troops" height="1333" width="2000" msid="80672468" hostid="261"></div><p>The Army is also expected to take all of the manpower cuts. The current defense reform plan, dubbed Defense Reform 2.0, <a href="https://www.mnd.go.kr/cop/pblictn/selectPublicationUser.do?siteId=mndEN&amp;componentId=51&amp;categoryId=0&amp;publicationSeq=846&amp;pageIndex=1&amp;id=mndEN_031300000000d=mndEN_031300000000" target="_top">shrinks the Army</a> from 463,000 troops now to 365,000 in 2025.</p><p>The Army's "domination" of the South Korean military "has been largely overthrown," Dr. Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, told Insider.</p><p>"All of the manpower has been coming out of the Army, and yet the equipment acquisition has favored the Navy and the Air Force," Bennett added.</p><p>The idea is that the Air Force's and Navy's new and advanced hardware, used in support of ground forces, will make up for shortcomings. But most of the likely combat scenarios on the peninsula <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/7/16974772/north-korea-war-trump-kim-nuclear-weapon" target="_top">involve</a> North Korea making widespread tactical use of nuclear weapons. (North Korea is also expected to deploy <a href="https://www.nti.org/learn/countries/north-korea/chemical/" target="_top">chemical weapons</a>.)</p><p>South Korean Air Force and Navy assets are largely concentrated in a few areas, leaving them extremely vulnerable to those weapons. They could be largely destroyed in the first few hours of fighting.</p><p>"If you're in a big war, those things are dead very quickly." Bennet said. "And the hordes then come running South."</p><h2>A larger enemy</h2><div type="image" title="North Korea's new ICBM" height="791" width="1055" msid="80672469" hostid="261"></div><p>The threat is similar to what NATO commanders <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/revealed-how-the-warsaw-pact-planned-win-world-war-three-16822" target="_top">faced</a> from the Soviets along the West German border during the Cold War - an enemy targeting important bases and cities with nuclear weapons, followed by waves of soldiers rushing to occupy what is left and declare victory.</p><p>If that were to happen in South Korea, it would largely fall to the Army to fend off the onslaught. And while the South Korean Army is getting smaller, North Korea's military, the KPA, will be much larger.</p><p>Current estimates place the KPA at around 1.28 million troops, with 1.1 million ground forces, and a reserve estimated to be as large as 7.6 million, compared to South Korea's 3.1 million reserves.</p><p>North Korea's military includes a roughly 200,000-man Special Operations Forces branch, which has likely received most of North Korea's conventional modernization efforts and would likely spearhead any invasion.</p><div type="image" title="North Korea soldiers troops parade" height="1334" width="2000" msid="80672471" hostid="261"></div><p>The overall quality of the KPA is unknown, and full-scale fighting on the Korean Peninsula would involve the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, possibly including American nuclear retaliation.</p><p>But with North Korea's ability to destroy the airfields and ports that would be used to deploy reinforcements with nuclear weapons, combined with its <a href="https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/north-korea-developing-nuclear-powered-submarine-tactical-nuclear-missiles-says-kim-jong-un" target="_top">intention</a> to build up its intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles to be able to reach the US mainland, the South Korean military may not be able to rely on the American cavalry arriving to save the day.</p><p>To many, then, the challenge for South Korea is modernizing all of its branches while maintaining the large force needed to fight off the KPA.</p><p>"The character of the investment has been more, 'how to we maintain stability in peacetime and prevent provocations?' than it has been, 'how do we maintain the ability to fight and win a war, and convince [North Korea] that if they start a war they are going to be defeated?'" Bennett said.</p>

South Korea's military has big problems that are much closer to home than North Korea

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Depictions of the full Korean Peninsula are on full display ahead of the inter-Korean summit on Friday.</strong></li><li><strong>Japan's foreign ministry has lodged a formal complaint about the use of the Korean unification flag which depicts a pair of disputed islands between Japan and South Korea.</strong></li><li><strong> The flag is set to be featured on a dessert served to the leaders of North and South Korea.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Ahead of the historic meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea on Friday, political emblems depicting unity have been rolled out across South Korea.</p><p>One of these is an outline of the full Korean Peninsula, like on the Korean unification flag <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-north-korea-olympics-together-opening-ceremony-2018-2">seen prominently at the Olympics</a>. Inside Peace House, where Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-In will meet, chairs have been engraved with the same outline and a miniature version of the flag will be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-kim-jong-un-moon-jae-in-will-eat-at-inter-korean-summit-2018-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">placed on a dessert</a> later in the day. </p><p>But not everyone views the symbols favorably.  </p><p>The Korean unification flag features a set of disputed islands between Japan and South Korea that have been a source of tension for over a millennia. </p><p>Both South Korea and Japan claim the pair of nearly uninhabitable islets located in the Sea of Japan, which are controlled by South Korea. South Korea refers to the islands as Dokdo, while the Japanese refer to them as Takeshima.</p><p>Internationally, they have been given the name of Liancourt Rocks to avoid dispute. </p><p>Japan claims it acquired the islands in 1905 as terra nullius during its occupation of Korea, while Korea maintains it was illegally occupied and that Japan's claims to the islands amount to continued imperialism. </p><p>The islands holds significant symbolic importance to South Korea but Japan has protested the use of the islands in the Korean unification flag. </p><p>On Wednesday, Japan's foreign ministry lodged a formal complaint about the use of the flag, which is set to be featured on top of a mango mousse served during the inter-Korean summit on Friday.</p><p>A Japanese official met with the South Korean embassy in Tokyo, telling them the use of the flag is "deeply regrettable and unacceptable for Japan," according to <a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180425_18/">NHK News</a>.</p><p>The Japanese Embassy in Seoul has also lodged a complaint with South Korea's foreign ministry.</p><p>This is not the first time the symbol has angered Japan. </p><p>In February, Japan lodged a protest<span> against the unification flag which was on display</span> during a women's ice hockey match between the joint North-South Korean team and Sweden.</p><p>South Korea later said it would not depict the islands on the flag it intended to use during the Olympics. But pictures of North Korea's cheerleaders at the games show they appear to have used the controversial flag anyway.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/flynano-is-a-jet-ski-hybrid-that-can-be-flown-without-a-pilot-license-2018-4">You don't need a pilot's license to fly this plane jet-ski hybrid</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The Korean unification flag is nearly everywhere ahead of the North-South summit - and Japan is fuming

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>More than ever, islands - and the resources beneath them - are the focus of geopolitical tensions between nations around the world.</p><p>The biggest disputes range from the Arctic to Croatia to north of Samoa, and some of the competing claims were made centuries ago. </p>

You Searched For "Dokdo" and got 11 results

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