Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From Jane's North Korea - going ballistic again? 04 July 07 Several recent reports emanating from East Asia have suggested that North Korea is preparing for a ballistic missile test exercise. These reports further speculate that the upcoming test may occur on 4 July, the anniversary of its wide-ranging July 2006 missile test. However, these reports have not been confirmed by sources within Japan, South Korea or the US. The most significant ballistic missile development since the 1998 launch of the Paektusan space launch vehicle has been the July 2006 test. On 5 July (4 July and Independence Day in the US), North Korea conducted its largest and most comprehens…

From DefenseNews Posted 07/04/07 11:12 Indonesian Minister Says Singapore Trying To Scuttle Defense Pact By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS, JAKARTA Indonesia’s defense minister has accused Singapore of trying to scuttle a bilateral defense pact so it will not have to sign an extradition treaty as part of the deal, reports said Wednesday. The defense pact and landmark extradition treaty were signed in April between the two nations, but still need to be ratified by their parliaments to be put into effect. A scheduled signing of three implementing agreements (IAs), detailing specific areas of cooperation, was delayed at the last minute because Indonesia requested changes, S…

Japan changes Iwo Jima name By Hans Greimel - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jun 20, 2007 13:27:08 EDT TOKYO — Japan has changed the name of Iwo Jima, the volcanic island immortalized in one of World War II’s most brutal battles, to reflect the original name given by its inhabitants, the Japanese Geographical Survey Institute said. The new name is Iwo To, which will retain the same written characters and meaning — “Sulfur Island” — but is different when spoken. The name change was approved Monday by a joint geographical naming committee meeting between the survey institute and Japan’s coast guard, a statement from the institute said. An offic…

Australia, U.S. launch joint exercises By Meraiah Foley - The Associated Press Posted : Monday Jun 18, 2007 7:32:59 EDT SYDNEY, Australia — Australia and the U.S. launched their biggest joint war games Monday, with 27,500 troops backed by a U.S. aircraft carrier engaging in exercises aimed at consolidating the allies’ military dominance in the Asia Pacific region. The biennial Talisman Sabre exercise pits 20,000 U.S. troops and 7,500 Australian forces against two fictional enemies — the Kamarians and Musorians — in a variety of land and sea-based scenarios designed to test their skills in combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian relief efforts. The exercise,…

From DefenseNews Posted 05/28/07 11:17 China Lashes Critical Pentagon Report AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING China lashed back Monday at a U.S. report on its military might, saying the Pentagon was playing up the issue for ulterior motives and warning Washington against selling weapons to Taiwan. “The U.S. Defense Department’s report exaggerates China’s military expenditures out of ulterior motives and continues to disseminate the ‘China threat’ theory,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement. “It seriously violates the norms of international relations and rudely interferes in China’s internal affairs. China expresses its strong dissatisfactio…

From DefenseNews Posted 05/25/07 08:11 S. Korea Launches Aegis Destroyer AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SEOUL South Korea on May 25 launched its first Aegis destroyer equipped with advanced air and sea weaponry, on the same day that North Korea test-fired several missiles. President Roh Moo-Hyun, speaking at the launch of the billion-dollar 7,600-ton KDX-III destroyer, said South Korea must be mindful of what he called a regional arms race. "The ship, armed with [a] state-of-the-art defense system and combat capability, is one of the world’s best destroyers," Roh said at a ceremony at the Ulsan dockyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries, which built the ship. "We have to se…

From Navy Times Kitty Hawk leaves Japan The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 10:19:16 EDT TOKYO — The carrier Kitty Hawk, the Navy’s oldest ship in full active service, embarked on its last major maneuvers Wednesday before being decommissioned next year. The 46-year-old vessel — the only American aircraft carrier permanently deployed abroad — eased out of its berth at the Navy base in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo, escorted by a carrier strike group of cruisers and guided-missile destroyers, Naval spokesman John Nylander said. The voyage, to last several months in the western and central Pacific Ocean, was expected to be the last major mi…

Navy launches show of force off Iran coast By Barbara Surk - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 9:12:42 EDT DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coast Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf. The strike groups led by the carriers John C. Stennis and Nimitz were joined by the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard and its own strike group, which includes landing ships carrying members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Navy said nine U.S. warships passed throu…

SINGAPORE — Though small in size, the city state of Singapore resides in a busy neighborhood. It’s the home of the busiest port in the world, and it’s not uncommon to see several hundred container ships stacked up in neat rows stretching out dozens of miles from the downtown skyline. The Malacca and Singapore Straits also see about 1,400 vessels pass through their narrow channels each day. For a small nation with no natural resources or agricultural industry, maritime and port security are essential to the nation’s economic well-being. And security in the straits has global implications, experts say Col. Tay Kian Seng, head of naval operations for the Royal Si…

Report: Japanese navy leaked missile data The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday May 22, 2007 9:05:19 EDT TOKYO — Classified information about a U.S.-developed missile defense system was leaked from Japan’s navy to students at a naval academy, a news report said Tuesday, as officials investigated security gaps in military information shared between the allies. Investigators say the leak involved ship-to-air SM-3 interceptor missiles that are to be deployed on Japanese ships later this year, Kyodo News agency reported, citing unidentified officials. Investigators are already looking into the alleged leak of information about the U.S.-developed high-tech Aeg…

From Navy Times New subs will keep Pearl busy By William Cole - Honolulu Advertiser Posted : Sunday May 20, 2007 16:10:31 EDT The new nuclear attack submarine Hawaii and other Virginia-class subs will be the major source of work for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in coming years, officials said. The $2.4 billion vessel was commissioned May 5 in Groton, Conn., and is expected to arrive for the first time at its home port of Pearl Harbor in 2009. Submarines account for about 90 percent of the work done by Pearl Harbor’s shipyard, the state’s largest industrial employer with a work force of 4,740. Pearl Harbor has 16 Los Angeles-class submarines. The s…

Is it just like everything else, that since we all have more opportunity to hear/read it, the more it "appears" to be happening. Reading navytime.com today, two more skippers have either been relieved, or have a good chance, in this case ground Arliegh Burke outside of Norfolk. CO of Arliegh Burke ran around, oh soft aground, so that's ok. CO of USS Helena (SSN) CO of USS Constitution And more than one or two over the past weeks that I am not currently able to pull up on the site. What's going on? Is it OPTEMPO? I'm not saying that there are not leadership failures in both the Army and Marines, but those forces are currently "engaged".

From Defence Talk Hopes rise for NKorea nuclear deal Agence France-Presse | May 16, 2007 Hopes rose Wednesday that North Korea will finally start shutting down its nuclear programme after Pyongyang announced a long-running financial dispute which blocked progress is close to settlement. "The statement by the North Korean foreign ministry expressed its will to implement the February 13 agreement in the most explicit and positive way that we have ever seen," South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-Joung told a forum. Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon said he expected the dispute "to be settled in the near future" but did not elaborate. North Korean acco…

Japan To Vote On Modifying Pacifist Charter Written By U.S. By Norimitsu Onishi TOKYO, May 14 — The Japanese Parliament passed a bill on Monday calling for a national referendum on amendments to the country’s pacifist Constitution. The government will be able to hold the referendum as early as 2010, but experts say it may take far longer than three years to persuade voters and opposition lawmakers to back constitutional change. Polls show that Japanese remain split, especially on the Constitution’s Article 9, which renounces war and forbids Japan to have a full-fledged military. But Parliament’s action was an important preliminary step toward rewriting the…

'Arms race' leaving our subs all at sea The Age

From DefenseNews Posted 05/10/07 10:15 Russia Throws Wrench in S. Korea’s Global Hawk Plan AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SEOUL South Korea’s plan to buy a U.S.-made unmanned spy plane to keep watch over North Korea has hit a snag because Russia opposes the easing of a global arms control pact, a news report said May 10. Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, quoting a diplomatic source, said any U.S. sale of the $50 million Global Hawk would need a revision to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). "The U.S. is trying to persuade MTCR member states to revise the MTCR regulations but Russia is opposed to revising it or making any exceptions," the source said. "South Korea’s pl…

From Air Force Times F-22 fighters headed home from Okinawa By Eric Talmadge - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 9, 2007 8:24:25 EDT TOKYO — A dozen F-22 stealth fighters are heading back to the U.S. after completing their first overseas mission, a four-month deployment to Okinawa aimed at showcasing the fighter’s capabilities and giving pilots a chance to train in a new setting. The fighters, which arrived on the southern Japan island of Okinawa in February, will fly out of Kadena Air Base early Thursday, the Air Force and Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in separate statements. The fighters are based at Langley Air Force Base, Va. The deployment…

Admiral stresses more talk between navies By Rod McGuirk - The Associated Press Posted : Thursday May 3, 2007 8:05:12 EDT CANBERRA, Australia — China will likely expand its navy and send its ships further out on the high seas to take a more active role in securing global sea lanes vital to its burgeoning economy, the U.S. naval commander in Japan said Thursday. Rear Adm. James Kelly said the strategic shift heightened the need for operational transparency between the world’s navies “so we don’t have a misinterpretation of something out on the high seas.” “As their economy continues to grow ... I suspect that China is thinking that they need to have a blue…

N. Korea missile could hit Guam, report says The Associated Press Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 13:27:31 EDT North Korea displayed a newly developed ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam during a massive military parade last week, a news report said Sunday. The parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday featured three new models, including the medium-range missile that can travel 2,500km to 4,000km, the Chosun Ilbo reported. The report cited an unidentified South Korean government official familiar with an analysis of U.S. satellite images. “All three [new] models are ground-to-ground missiles,” the official was quoted as saying. “Of them, t…

Submarines A Top Priority In China By Richard Halloran An American military intelligence officer, asked some years ago how far the Chinese could project their military power, answered only half-jokingly: "About as far as their army can walk." That is changing rapidly today as China's leaders fuel the budgets of the People's Liberation Army, which comprises all of their armed forces. Says a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations, the think-tank in New York, China is driven both by "a clear operational objective," which is to take Taiwan, the island Beijing claims, and "a clear strategic objective," which is to be a modern power. China's military p…