Journalist
Kim Hee-su김희수
khs@ajupress.com
ReporterMinistry of Foreign Affairs, Seoul City Hall & Defense, Foreign Affairs
Kim Hee-su is a bilingual reporter at AJU Press, covering defense and foreign affairs. Before joining AJP in 2025, she worked at The Korea Times, where she wrote interview stories, including a profile of North Korean defector Kim Gum-hyok, and produced digital content. She also previously worked as a researcher for KBS News 9’s International News Department, supporting correspondents in 10 countries around the world. She graduated from the University of Toronto in Canada with a double major in Book and Media Studies and East Asian Studies.
"I'm driven by storytelling."
Latest by Kim Hee-su
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Two Koreas reshuffle military command for very different battles SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - South and North Korea are reshaping their military leadership at the same time, but for markedly different challenges. Seoul is turning back to a career general to steady an institution unsettled by contentious reforms, while Pyongyang is tightening party control for stronger push into weapons modernization. President Lee Jae Myung's nomination of retired four-star Gen. Kang Shin-chul as defense minister effectively puts a career military officer back in charge after just over a year under South Korea's first civilian defense chief in more than six decades. Kang is set to succeed Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, a five-term lawmaker who became the country's first civilian to head the ministry in 64 years when he took office in July 2025. Ahn took office pledging a series of defense reforms. His final months, however, have been consumed by resistance to the government's plan to integrate the Army, Navy and Air Force academies and a political dispute over his military service more than four decades ago. Opposition figures have alleged that irregularities in Ahn's service record reflected an absence without leave and time in military detention. Ahn and the Defense Ministry have rejected allegations that he deserted his post, saying discrepancies in the record stemmed from administrative handling. The issue remains under investigation. The controversy came as Ahn was already struggling to build consensus around one of the Lee administration's most contentious military reforms. The government and ruling Democratic Party agreed in July to establish a four-year integrated military academy at Jaundae in Daejeon, bringing together the Army, Navy and Air Force academies. The plan is intended to improve joint operations and adapt officer education to a military facing a shrinking pool of recruits. Alumni groups from the three academies have pushed back, arguing that the overhaul is being pursued without sufficient consultation and risks weakening the identities and specialized traditions of the individual services. Against that backdrop, Kang's selection looks less like a reversal of Ahn's reform agenda than an attempt to put a senior military figure in charge of carrying it through an increasingly resistant institution. Kang, a Korea Military Academy graduate, built much of his career around joint operations, defense policy and the South Korea-U.S. alliance. He served in senior positions at the Joint Chiefs of Staff before becoming deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command in 2023, the highest post available to a South Korean officer within the command. He retired in September 2025 and has served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia since January. His alliance experience comes at a sensitive time. Seoul and Washington are grappling with the transition of wartime operational control, questions over the future scale and direction of combined exercises and a broader debate over how the two allies should divide military responsibilities as Washington adjusts its regional posture. The United States has already scaled back parts of its military exercise schedule with South Korea even as Seoul, Washington and Tokyo prepare for another round of trilateral Freedom Edge drills focused on missile defense and other responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities. One military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, offered a cautious assessment of what Kang's return is likely to mean. “He is known to be smart and quick on his feet, but I would not say his operational expertise runs particularly deep,” the source said. “He is not the type to push through his own views based on conviction or military expertise. I expect him to largely carry out the defense policies set by the current administration.” Kang's immediate task, therefore, is unlikely to be designing another reform blueprint. It will be turning policies already chosen by the civilian leadership into measures the military can absorb without deepening resistance inside the ranks. North Korea's reshuffle points in a different direction. At a Workers' Party Central Military Commission meeting Saturday, Kim Jong Un replaced Defense Minister No Kwang-chol with Kim Song-gi, who had headed the Korean People's Army's powerful General Political Bureau. Pak Jong-chon, one of North Korea's most experienced military figures, was simultaneously restored as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, roughly six months after losing senior party and military positions during February's Workers' Party congress. Pak also returned to the party Central Committee and Politburo, restoring him to the center of military decision-making. His return matters because military authority in North Korea does not rest primarily with the Defense Ministry. It runs through Kim Jong Un and the Workers' Party, particularly the Central Military Commission that Kim chairs. The body sits at the intersection of military command, personnel decisions and the party's control over the armed forces. Pak's career has been closely associated with artillery, missile forces and military modernization. Bringing him back just months after his removal underscores the fluidity of North Korea's senior ranks but also restores an experienced commander as Pyongyang presses ahead with new weapons programs. The other appointments reveal an equally important concern - control from within. Yu Kwang-u, who headed the KPA Security Bureau responsible for internal security and counterintelligence, was moved to first vice director of the General Political Bureau. Om Ju-ho, previously political commissar of the Air Force, replaced him as head of the Security Bureau. The reshuffle effectively rotates officials across two institutions central to surveillance, political indoctrination and discipline within the military. It comes as Pyongyang has increasingly emphasized both discipline inside the armed forces and advances in weapons technology. Kim met defense scientists and researchers involved in developing and improving new combat systems around the same time as the military commission gathering, according to state media. Former Defense Minister No, meanwhile, was moved rather than discarded, taking a senior post as first vice director of the party's Munitions Industry Department — an organization at the heart of North Korea's weapons-production apparatus. State media said the Central Military Commission expected the newly appointed commanders to be firmly armed with the party's vision of building a powerful military and to carry out its military policies with what it called “boundless devotion” and exceptional initiative. The personnel moves on opposite sides of the Demilitarized Zone therefore reveal two very different military problems. Seoul has spent the past year testing how far a civilian defense minister could push institutional reform through a deeply hierarchical military establishment. With some of those reforms now encountering resistance, Lee has chosen a retired general familiar with both the armed forces and alliance machinery to carry them forward. Pyongyang faces no comparable problem of winning institutional consent. Its concern is keeping the military politically reliable and operationally effective while weapons programs expand rapidly. In Seoul, the general is being brought back to manage reform. In Pyongyang, experienced commanders and political officers are being rearranged to make sure the military follows the party while the arsenal grows. AJP Takeaways • South Korea and North Korea are simultaneously reshuffling their military leadership, but Seoul is focused on stabilizing defense reform while Pyongyang is strengthening party control and weapons modernization. • President Lee Jae Myung nominated retired four-star Gen. Kang Shin-chul to replace civilian Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back as resistance builds against plans to integrate South Korea's three military academies. • North Korea replaced Defense Minister No Kwang-chol with Kim Song-gi and restored veteran commander Pak Jong-chon as vice chairman of the Workers' Party Central Military Commission. 2026-08-31 17:26:29 -
Hanwha Aerospace signs K9 deal with Spain in Western Europe debut SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - Hanwha Aerospace has signed a contract with Spanish defense company Indra Sistemas to export K9 self-propelled howitzers, marking the South Korean defense manufacturer’s first entry into the Western European market. Hanwha Aerospace said in a regulatory filing Monday that it signed an execution contract with Indra for the export of K9 self-propelled howitzers and related systems. The company did not disclose the number of systems, contract value or delivery schedule, citing confidentiality obligations. Under the payment terms disclosed, Hanwha will receive an initial advance payment equivalent to 20 percent of the contract value following the signing, followed by another 5 percent within this year. While the total value remains undisclosed, the deal is estimated to exceed 667.5 billion won ($486 million), based on Korea Exchange rules requiring companies to disclose contracts exceeding a certain proportion of annual sales. Spanish defense publication Infodefensa previously reported that an artillery modernization program led by Indra could be worth up to 4.52 billion euros ($5.3 billion). The deal marks Hanwha Aerospace’s first K9 export to Western Europe, expanding the artillery system’s footprint beyond its established markets in Northern and Eastern Europe. Indra, one of Spain’s leading defense companies, operates in more than 140 countries and has capabilities in communications, command and control (C2) and situational awareness systems for ground forces. The company also maintains an extensive business network across Latin America. Hanwha said Spain represents the K9’s 11th export market since the company began exporting the artillery system to Türkiye in 2001. The K9 has since been supplied to countries including Poland, Finland, India, Norway, Estonia, Australia, Egypt and Romania. The company said the K9’s expansion into Western Europe reflects its proven firepower, mobility and operational and maintenance efficiency, demonstrated through years of service with multiple armed forces. The Spanish deal comes less than two weeks after Hanwha secured a U.S. Army contract on Aug. 19 to provide six prototypes of a wheeled variant of the K9 under the service’s artillery modernization efforts. The back-to-back deals highlight the K9 family’s expanding presence in major Western defense markets. Industry officials expect the K9 to continue broadening its overseas footprint, citing its combat-proven capabilities, competitive pricing, relatively rapid delivery and established logistics and maintenance support. Global market research firm Spherical Insights has projected that the global howitzer market will grow from $33 billion in 2023 to $78.8 billion by 2033, identifying Hanwha Aerospace as one of the sector’s key manufacturers. Shares of Hanwha Aerospace fell 4.67 percent to 1.103 million won on Monday. AJP Takeaways · Hanwha Aerospace signed a K9 howitzer deal with Spain’s Indra, entering Western Europe for the first time. · The contract is estimated to exceed 667.5 billion won ($486 million). · Spain becomes the K9’s 11th export market. 2026-08-31 15:14:07 -
Seoul steps up ferry safety checks ahead of Chuseok SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - South Korea will conduct special safety inspections of 141 coastal passenger ferries nationwide ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Monday. The joint inspections will run for 12 days from Aug. 31 through Sept. 11, involving the ministry, the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority, the Korea Coast Guard, local governments and civilian safety inspectors. This year’s four-day Chuseok holiday runs from Sept. 24 to 27. The Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority expects an average of about 77,000 people per day to travel by passenger ferry during the holiday period, up about 2.8 percent from normal levels. The inspections are aimed at preventing maritime accidents and ensuring safe and comfortable travel during one of the country’s busiest holiday periods. Officials will examine the condition and maintenance of key equipment, including hulls, engines and lifesaving equipment, as well as the deployment of safety personnel at passenger boarding and disembarkation areas. Inspectors will also check passenger facilities, compliance with workplace safety rules for crew members to prevent onboard accidents and safety management for passengers in vehicle decks. Minor defects identified during the inspections will be corrected immediately on site, while issues requiring additional work must be addressed before the government’s special Chuseok transportation period begins on Sept. 23. “We will thoroughly carry out advance inspections of passenger ferry safety management so that people can travel home with peace of mind and spend a warm Chuseok holiday with their families,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister Hwang Jong-woo said. AJP Takeaways · South Korea will inspect 141 coastal passenger ferries nationwide from Aug. 31 to Sept. 11 ahead of the Chuseok holiday. · Around 77,000 passengers per day are expected to use ferries during Chuseok, up about 2.8 percent from normal levels. · Safety checks will cover hulls, engines, lifesaving equipment, boarding areas, passenger facilities and vehicle decks to prevent maritime accidents. 2026-08-31 13:47:04 -
Two in three South Koreans back nuclear armament, poll shows SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - Nearly two-thirds of South Koreans support the country possessing its own nuclear weapons, while a majority oppose the government's push to merge the Army, Navy and Air Force academies, a Gallup Korea poll showed Friday. The survey of 1,001 adults conducted from Tuesday to Thursday found that 65 percent supported South Korea possessing nuclear weapons, compared with 30 percent who opposed the idea. Support reached 78 percent among supporters of the main opposition People Power Party, 60 percent among supporters of the ruling Democratic Party and 64 percent among politically unaffiliated respondents. The result suggests support for an independent nuclear capability has become a persistent feature of South Korean public opinion. Gallup Korea surveys conducted after North Korea's fifth nuclear test in 2016 and sixth test in 2017 found support at 58 percent and 60 percent, respectively. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated in June that North Korea had assembled around 60 nuclear warheads and possessed enough fissile material for at least 30 more. Despite strong public support for nuclear armament, Seoul remains a non-nuclear weapons state and relies on U.S. extended deterrence, including Washington's nuclear umbrella. The poll also showed that support for nuclear weapons is not driven solely by fears of imminent conflict. Only 39 percent said they believed North Korea could actually start a war, while 55 percent said it could not. Even among those who saw no real risk of war, 58 percent still supported South Korea possessing nuclear weapons. Gallup Korea said the findings suggest many respondents may view nuclear weapons primarily as a deterrent rather than as weapons intended for actual use. Academy integration faces resistance On the government's plan to integrate the three service academies, 58 percent said they should remain separate, while 30 percent supported integration. The issue showed a sharp partisan divide. Among Democratic Party supporters, 54 percent backed integration, while 85 percent of People Power Party supporters and 70 percent of unaffiliated respondents opposed it. The government and ruling party agreed in July to establish a four-year integrated National Military Academy at Jaundae in Daejeon, replacing the existing service-specific academy structure. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back has argued that the reform would reduce institutional silos and better prepare officers for joint and all-domain warfare. Alumni groups and other critics, however, say integration could weaken the distinct expertise and traditions of each service. Public split over OPCON timeline South Koreans were more evenly divided over the transfer of wartime operational control, or OPCON, from the United States. Forty-six percent said the transfer should be completed during President Lee Jae Myung's term, which ends in 2030, while 41 percent favored delaying it. Among self-described progressives, 74 percent supported completing the transfer during Lee's term, compared with 27 percent among conservatives. Among moderates, 48 percent supported the move and 43 percent opposed it. Seoul and Washington have agreed that OPCON transfer should be conditions-based rather than tied solely to a fixed date. The allies are currently in the second stage of a three-phase verification process, known as full operational capability. The Lee government has made completing the transition during his term a major defense objective. 70 percent see South Korean military as stronger Seventy percent of respondents said South Korea's military was stronger than North Korea's, while 21 percent viewed the North as superior. The latest South Korean defense white paper, published in 2023 using 2022 data, put North Korea's active-duty force at about 1.28 million troops, compared with about 500,000 in the South at the time. But the Defense Ministry has cautioned that numerical comparisons alone do not capture differences in equipment quality, training, operational concepts and allied capabilities. South Korea's active-duty force has since fallen to about 450,000 amid demographic decline, while Seoul has sought to compensate through advanced weapons, unmanned systems and its alliance with the United States. North Korea, meanwhile, retains major asymmetric capabilities, including nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and long-range artillery. Younger Koreans see greater risk of war Perceptions of the likelihood of conflict varied sharply by age. While 39 percent overall said North Korea could actually start a war, the figure rose to 54 percent among those aged 18 to 29 and 53 percent among people in their 30s. Only 29 percent of respondents in their 40s saw such a possibility, the lowest among all age groups. The overall result was similar to a Gallup Korea survey conducted after North Korea's sixth nuclear test in 2017, when 37 percent said there was a possibility of war on the Korean Peninsula. The latest poll was conducted through telephone interviews using randomly selected mobile phone numbers. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, with a contact rate of 44.5 percent and a response rate of 9.5 percent. AJP Takeaways · 65% of South Koreans support possessing nuclear weapons. · 58% oppose merging the Army, Navy and Air Force academies. · 70% believe South Korea’s military is stronger than North Korea’s. 2026-08-28 17:49:12 -
Marado drone flop exposes Korea's unmanned warfare gap SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - Unmanned ground vehicles rolled down Kyiv's main boulevard, drone boats moved along the Dnipro River and bomber and interceptor drones filled the sky as Ukraine marked 35 years of independence from the Soviet Union this week, putting on public display its power behind sustaining its resistance against Russia into a fourth year. The unconventional military parade underscored how drones — rather than foot soldiers, spectacular warships or tanks — have come to define modern warfare. For South Korea, the contrast was uncomfortable. Two domestically developed suicide drones plunged into the sea within seconds of takeoff from the amphibious assault ship ROKS Marado during a publicly watched maritime combat test earlier this week, turning what was meant to showcase a new capability into an embarrassing flop. The failure also stirred concern in a country facing nuclear-armed North Korea, which has been expanding its own drone arsenal and has gained exposure to Iranian-made drones and battlefield tactics through closer military cooperation with Russia. A simple defect in the launcher, rather than a problem with the drones themselves, caused the two South Korean aircraft to crash during their first maritime combat test, the country's state-run defense research agency said Friday. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said an initial investigation found that a misaligned door on one of the launch tubes created an imbalance as the drones were fired from the Marado on Tuesday. "The unmanned aircraft and the overall system were confirmed to be operating normally," an ADD official told reporters Friday. "As developers, we are more disappointed than anyone that such a simple defect led to the worst possible outcome," the official said. The launcher consisted of two levels of launch tubes. According to ADD, a door on the left side of a lower tube had been installed slightly out of alignment. When a drone was fired from the upper tube, the force generated during launch briefly pushed the misaligned lower door inward. The resulting uneven reaction force pushed the departing aircraft to the right and destabilized it immediately after takeoff. The drone turned sharply to the right, became unable to maintain flight and fell into the sea. The deformation lasted only an instant before the door returned to its original position, making the problem difficult to detect during an inspection after the first crash, ADD said. A second drone launched from the same system shortly afterward also crashed. ADD said it had conducted dozens of previous launches without encountering the same problem. "We believe the misalignment may have occurred while moving the launcher, loading cargo or during the assembly process," the official said, adding that investigators were still trying to determine exactly when the launcher became distorted. The finding shifts attention away from initial questions over whether maritime conditions, ship movement or problems with the drones' flight-control systems had caused the accident. Still, shipboard operations pose challenges that do not arise during launches from land. "Launching drones from a ship is fundamentally different from doing so on land, given factors such as weather conditions and the limited space aboard a vessel," said Chae Woo-seok, chairman of the Korea Defense Industry Association. Both aircraft crashed within seconds of launch, before they could begin the main part of the demonstration, which was intended to test their ability to identify and strike a high-speed unmanned surface target about two kilometers away. ADD said it does not plan another maritime launch before the research project ends next month. The agency said the project's core technologies have already been demonstrated through dozens of successful ground launches, while the shipboard test was an additional experiment aimed at assessing the possibility of maritime operation. More than a flying bomb The accident has also drawn attention to what South Korea is trying to build as suicide drones increasingly shape wars from Ukraine to the Middle East. Broadly, suicide drones are unmanned aircraft carrying explosives that are destroyed along with their targets. They are also commonly described as one-way attack drones or, in systems capable of searching an area before striking, loitering munitions. The category covers weapons with dramatically different costs and capabilities. Iran's Shahed-136 represents one end of that spectrum. The roughly 200-kilogram aircraft is designed primarily as a relatively inexpensive, long-range one-way attack weapon. The system has an estimated range of between 1,000 and 2,500 kilometers and carries roughly 20 to 50 kilograms of payload, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Its main advantage is affordability and scale rather than technological sophistication. Analysts estimate a Shahed costs roughly $20,000 to $50,000, allowing large numbers to be launched simultaneously to exhaust or overwhelm much more expensive air defenses. Russia has demonstrated the concept extensively in Ukraine, using thousands of Shahed-type drones in repeated waves against infrastructure and other targets. The Center for Strategic and International Studies described their operational logic as one of attrition, in which even a relatively low individual success rate can be offset by low cost and mass deployment. Russia launched more than 14,700 one-way attack drones against Ukraine between September 2022 and the end of 2024, according to a CSIS analysis. Although roughly 90 percent of Shahed-type drones in the dataset were intercepted or otherwise failed to reach their targets, CSIS estimated that their relatively low unit cost of about $35,000 still made them Russia's most cost-effective long-range strike weapon. Russia was deploying more than 5,000 drones per month on average by early 2026, according to CSIS, allowing Moscow to sustain repeated attack waves despite heavy losses. The medium-sized drone tested aboard the Marado is intended to fill a different role. Defense officials have characterized the Korean system as a more "high-end" suicide drone. The ADD research program, launched in 2024, is aimed at securing technologies including integrated communications with low-Earth-orbit satellites and automatic target recognition. Those capabilities are intended to allow the drone to operate as part of a more sophisticated network, identify targets and alter its mission rather than simply fly toward a predetermined coordinate. Tuesday's planned experiment illustrated that distinction. Instead of attacking a fixed target whose location was already known, the drones were supposed to launch from a moving ship, identify a fast-moving unmanned vessel at sea and strike it. The project's stated goals include automatic target recognition and data exchange through low-Earth-orbit satellites. A direct comparison with the Shahed is therefore difficult. The Iranian drone is optimized largely around low cost, range and mass, while the Korean medium-sized system emphasizes sensors, communications, target recognition and precision. The added sophistication also raises the cost of a suicide drone designed to be destroyed after a single mission. The experience of the war in Ukraine suggests cost can directly affect combat power by determining how many drones a military can afford to expend and replace. The U.S. Defense Department has emphasized what it calls "attritable" autonomous systems, platforms built affordably enough that commanders can accept a greater risk of losing them, while pursuing deployment in large numbers. That does not necessarily mean every suicide drone should be built as cheaply as possible. A Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) official said the drone tested aboard the Marado falls toward the more sophisticated end of that spectrum. "The drone was developed with the goal of directly identifying targets using electro-optical and infrared cameras and changing its flight path in real time while in flight before striking," the official said. "That requires a number of different components to operate together, and integrating them into a single system inevitably adds considerable cost." The official stressed that South Korea is developing unmanned systems across a range of prices and capabilities rather than pursuing only high-end weapons. "We are not developing just a single type, but dozens of different types," the official said. "Just as there are low-cost cars and high-end, expensive cars on the market, it would be helpful to understand our drone development in the same way." AJP Takeaways • Two South Korean suicide drones crashed into the sea during a shipboard combat test after a misaligned launch-tube door destabilized them seconds after takeoff, according to ADD. • The failure came as Ukraine publicly showcased aerial, ground and maritime drones during its Independence Day military display, underscoring the growing role of unmanned weapons in modern warfare. • South Korea's medium-sized attack drone is designed with satellite communications, automatic target recognition and real-time course adjustment, placing it at the more sophisticated end of the one-way attack drone spectrum. • Seoul is developing unmanned weapons across a range of prices and capabilities as cheaper mass-produced drones and more advanced networked systems take on growing roles in modern conflicts. 2026-08-28 17:28:22 -
Trilateral Freedom Edge to proceed next month as planned SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - South Korea, the United States and Japan will conduct their annual Freedom Edge multi-domain exercise next month as scheduled, even as Washington scales back bilateral drills with Seoul. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that the three countries will hold Freedom Edge from Sept. 7 to 11 in international waters southeast of Jeju Island. The five-day exercise is aimed at strengthening the three countries' ability to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and maintaining peace and stability in the region, the JCS said. The exercise will mark the fourth iteration of Freedom Edge, a regular trilateral multi-domain drill launched following an agreement reached by the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan at their Camp David summit in August 2023. The inaugural exercise was held in June 2024, followed by a second iteration that November and a third in September 2025. The latest announcement stands in contrast to recent reductions in South Korea-U.S. military exercises. The allies ended this year's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise on Aug. 21, cutting the originally planned 11-day exercise to five days after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint drills with South Korea. Associated field training was also scaled back. The United States has also withdrawn from next month's Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise. The U.S. Marine Corps cited force constraints stemming from the war with Iran. Freedom Edge, however, is moving ahead on its planned five-day schedule. The differing approaches highlight Washington’s broader strategic priorities in the region. While South Korea-U.S. exercises are primarily centered on contingencies on the Korean Peninsula, Freedom Edge has increasingly been framed as part of a wider regional deterrence architecture involving the three countries. Ahead of Freedom Edge 2025, U.S. Pacific Command said the exercise would strengthen deterrence in the Asia-Pacific by “bolstering combat-credible forces inside the First Island Chain.” The First Island Chain, stretching from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines, is widely regarded as a key geographic line in U.S. military planning for countering China's expanding military reach into the western Pacific. The continuation of Freedom Edge even as Washington scales back bilateral drills with Seoul therefore highlights the growing importance of trilateral South Korea-U.S.-Japan defense cooperation in U.S. regional strategy. North Korea has repeatedly condemned Freedom Edge, describing it as an aggressive military exercise directed against the country. AJP Takeaways · South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will hold Freedom Edge from Sept. 7 to 11 near Jeju Island. · The trilateral drill will proceed despite recent cuts to South Korea-U.S. military exercises. · Freedom Edge reflects the growing role of trilateral defense cooperation in U.S. regional strategy. 2026-08-28 10:29:56 -
US-Canada tariff war squeezes Korean autos, opens crude door SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - South Korean manufacturers accustomed to being caught between Washington and Beijing now find themselves on a new trade battlefront much closer to their factories. Korean companies poured billions of dollars into North America to escape the heavier tariffs and geopolitical risks of President Donald Trump's second term. The escalating U.S.-Canada trade conflict is now threatening the very assumption behind that strategy - that the United States, Canada and Mexico could continue functioning as one largely integrated production base. For Korean automakers, the rupture creates a new layer of supply-chain risk. For Korea's energy importers, it may create an opening. Canada, increasingly eager to loosen its dependence on the U.S. market, has more crude oil reaching its Pacific coast just as South Korea searches for alternatives to Middle Eastern supplies disrupted by war. The United States imposed a 50 percent tariff on about $20 billion of Canadian imports on Aug. 22 after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa collapsed. Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs on roughly the same amount of U.S. goods, scheduled to take effect Sept. 8. The 50 percent rate will hit products including steel, aluminum and smartphones. Duties of 25 percent will apply to cheese, refrigerators, washing machines and other household appliances, while a 15 percent tariff will cover selected industrial equipment including forklifts, industrial robots and some air-conditioning systems and machinery parts. The rates are designed to mirror U.S. tariffs imposed on corresponding Canadian goods. The much larger disruption could arrive next year. Trump has announced plans to double tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks and automotive parts to 50 percent from 25 percent on Jan. 1, striking directly at one of the world's most tightly integrated manufacturing systems. A report released Wednesday by the East Asia Institute (EAI) said the cross-border automotive production network built under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, is entering a period of institutional uncertainty. For Korean companies, North America may no longer be one market in quite the way it used to be. Korean autos face a new calculation Few industries illustrate the problem more clearly than automobiles. A component can cross the U.S.-Canadian border several times before the finished vehicle rolls off an assembly line. Ford's F-Series Super Duty, for example, is assembled in Ontario using U.S.-made transmissions and axles alongside Canadian-made engines. A tariff collected at one border crossing can therefore work its way through factories and suppliers on both sides. U.S. automakers have warned that a 50 percent tariff on Canadian vehicles and parts could sharply raise production costs. The emerging tariff map produces an unusual result. The United States has lowered tariffs on South Korean and Japanese vehicles to 15 percent under separate trade arrangements. A Canadian-built vehicle could therefore enter the United States facing a 50 percent tariff while a car shipped across the Pacific directly from South Korea faces 15 percent. The disparity is awkward enough that American automakers themselves worry North American-made vehicles could lose price competitiveness against Asian imports. For Hyundai Motor and Kia, however, any apparent advantage comes with a catch. The companies have spent years localizing production in the United States precisely to reduce exposure to tariffs and political pressure. South Korea produced about 4.1 million vehicles in 2025 and exported roughly 2.74 million. Around 1.65 million of those exports went to North America, meaning the region absorbed about 60 percent of all Korean-made vehicles shipped overseas. Hyundai Motor produced 362,000 vehicles at its Alabama plant last year and another 65,320 at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia. Kia produced another 355,000 vehicles at its West Point, Georgia, plant. Combined U.S. production reached 782,320 vehicles — equivalent to about 19 percent of all automobiles manufactured in South Korea that year. Hyundai's Tucson shows how quickly the borders blur. The model, assembled in Alabama, was Hyundai's best-selling vehicle in Canada in 2025 with 41,840 units sold. The Alabama factory produced 158,789 Tucsons during the year. A car assembled in America, sold to Canadians and dependent on a regional supplier network can become exposed to a bilateral tariff fight even though the automaker itself is Korean. That is the new calculation. Shipping more vehicles directly from Korea could theoretically exploit the lower 15 percent U.S. tariff. But Hyundai and Kia have simultaneously invested heavily in American factories and in suppliers designed around a continent-wide production system. EAI said the impact would increasingly depend on how much production companies locate inside the United States. Parts suppliers including Hyundai Mobis and HL Mando could face particular pressure as Washington demands greater U.S.-made content and the economics of moving components across borders deteriorate. Localization, once the obvious insurance against tariffs, is becoming more complicated when the tariffs begin appearing inside the supposedly protected market. Canada looks beyond America Canada has a different problem. About 70 percent of its exports go to the United States, leaving the country exceptionally exposed when relations with its largest customer sour. Prime Minister Mark Carney has increasingly called for new trade and security partnerships as Ottawa tries to reduce that dependence. South Korea is already part of that diversification. Energy ties are growing through LNG Canada, whose first phase includes Korea Gas Corp. as an investor. South Korea plans to import at least 1.4 million tons of Canadian liquefied natural gas annually for more than 30 years if the project's second phase proceeds as planned. A longer U.S.-Canada rupture could give Seoul greater room to deepen cooperation in critical minerals, energy and advanced manufacturing. Oil may offer the most immediate opportunity. South Korea receives about 69 percent of its crude imports from the Middle East, according to the industry ministry, leaving refiners particularly vulnerable to disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz. Kpler data on Thursday showed crude flows through the strait averaging only 2.3 million barrels per day in August, compared with 15.82 million barrels a day in the three months before the war. Asia's overall crude imports were running about 14 percent below prewar levels. Thousands of kilometers away, Canada has something Asian refiners increasingly want: oil that does not need to pass through Hormuz. The expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, which nearly tripled capacity for moving Alberta crude to Canada's Pacific coast, has been running at full capacity. By July, about 77 percent of crude shipped from Vancouver through the pipeline was headed to Asia, up from roughly 51 percent in 2024. Japan received its first Canadian crude cargo in more than a year, while India, Malaysia and Singapore resumed purchases after the Iran war began. "Japan's renewed purchases of TMX crude highlight Canada's growing role in Asia's evolving import strategy," said Richard Ro, a senior market analyst at Kpler. South Korea has another reason to take a closer look. The latest U.S. tariffs do not directly apply to Canadian crude, so Korean refiners receive no immediate tariff-induced price advantage. But a prolonged political and trade split could give Ottawa a stronger incentive to move barrels west across the Pacific rather than south into the United States. One obstacle to Korean purchases has already been lowered. The Korea Customs Service and Alberta agreed in April to simplify origin certification for Canadian oil-sands crude, which is frequently blended with U.S. light crude before shipment. Qualifying Canadian crude can therefore receive preferential treatment under the Korea-Canada free trade agreement, eliminating a 3 percent tariff that had discouraged some imports. Canada still has a long way to go before Asia rivals its traditional market. The United States accounted for 93.8 percent of Canadian crude exports during the first year after the Trans Mountain expansion. That dependence explains Carney's urgency. He has set a goal of doubling Canada's non-U.S. exports over the next decade. For Seoul, the timing is notable. Korea itself is trying to secure energy supply lines at a moment when Middle Eastern disruption has exposed the dangers of relying too heavily on one region. Ottawa is trying to find buyers beyond a U.S. market that has absorbed Canadian output almost by default for generations. Their diversification strategies increasingly point toward each other. The irony for Korean industry is that the same trade confrontation producing the opportunity is also undermining another diversification strategy. Hyundai, Kia and their suppliers invested heavily in North America partly because producing inside the region was supposed to insulate them from Trump's tariff walls. The wall is now appearing between the countries inside it. South Korea's relationship with Washington has not deteriorated to anything approaching Canada's. September nevertheless brings its own test, with a possible meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly and Seoul expected to announce the first project under its $350 billion U.S. investment package. For Korean companies, the lesson from Canada may be uncomfortable. Putting factories inside North America can reduce the risk of being outside Trump's tariff perimeter. It cannot guarantee that the perimeter will stay in the same place. For Korean energy buyers, Canada's predicament offers the reverse possibility. As one of America's closest economic partners searches for markets farther from home, some of the barrels it once sent almost automatically south may increasingly head west instead — toward Asia. AJP Takeaways • The escalating U.S.-Canada tariff dispute is challenging the integrated North American production strategy of Hyundai Motor, Kia and Korean auto-parts suppliers, which have invested heavily in U.S. manufacturing while relying on regional supply chains. • A planned 50 percent U.S. tariff on Canadian vehicles and parts from January could produce unusual competitive distortions, as South Korean-made vehicles face a lower 15 percent tariff while some North American-built models face much steeper duties. • Canada's push to diversify away from the United States could create new opportunities for South Korea in energy, critical minerals and advanced manufacturing, building on existing LNG cooperation. • Canadian crude is becoming more attractive to Asian buyers as Middle East disruptions constrain supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, while simplified Korea-Canada origin rules have removed a 3 percent tariff obstacle for qualifying Canadian oil-sands crude. 2026-08-27 17:42:09 -
South Korea probes failed loitering munition test SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - South Korea’s arms procurement agency said Thursday it is investigating why two domestically developed loitering munitions crashed into the sea immediately after being launched from a Navy ship, while stressing that the failed maritime test does not mean the underlying development project has fallen short of its original goals. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the medium-sized loitering munition was developed under an applied research program launched in 2024 to secure core technologies, including a data link connected to low-Earth-orbit satellites. The project was originally designed to develop technologies for ground-based operations, and its planned ground-launch tests had already been completed successfully, a DAPA spokesperson said during the Defense Ministry’s regular briefing Thursday. “The original ground-launch tests were successful,” the spokesperson said. “This was a challenging combat experiment conducted additionally to verify the possibility of maritime operations based on the technologies already secured.” DAPA said the core technologies required for the loitering munition have been secured, but the two aircraft launched from the amphibious assault ship ROKS Marado on Tuesday crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff for reasons that have yet to be determined. The development agency is currently investigating the cause. The remarks came two days after the Navy conducted its first combat experiment involving the domestically developed loitering munition at sea. During the test in waters off South Korea’s southern coast, the drone was supposed to launch from a rail installed on the flight deck of the 14,500-ton ROKS Marado, conduct reconnaissance and then track and strike a fast-moving unmanned surface target about 2 kilometers away. The first drone, launched at around 3:30 p.m., flew for only several seconds before falling into the sea. A second attempt using a backup aircraft at around 5:30 p.m. ended the same way, preventing the military from proceeding to the target-tracking and strike phase. An ADD official at the scene initially suggested that misalignment between the aircraft and its launcher under shipboard conditions could have contributed to the failures, noting that vibrations and movement at sea differ from the conditions of ground testing. DAPA said Thursday that investigators are examining such environmental factors and that it plans to provide the results of its initial cause analysis Friday. The failed test has also drawn questions over the cost of the domestically developed system compared with cheaper loitering munitions increasingly used in modern conflicts. Defense officials pushed back against direct comparisons with low-cost systems such as Iran’s Shahed drones, saying the South Korean aircraft tested this week belongs to a different, higher-end category. Vice Adm. Kwak Kwang-sup, commander of the Republic of Korea Fleet, also signaled that the Navy would continue pursuing the project despite Tuesday’s setback. “Today’s experiment is not the end,” Kwak told reporters following the test. “We will try again.” AJP Takeaways · South Korea is investigating why two loitering munitions crashed after launching from ROKS Marado. · DAPA says the system’s core technology has already been secured through successful ground tests. · The Navy plans to continue maritime testing despite the failed shipboard experiment. 2026-08-27 15:14:55 -
U.S. reaffirms commitment to North Korea's complete denuclearization SEOUL, August 27 (AJP) - The Trump administration has reaffirmed that the United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea, clarifying its policy after President Donald Trump recently declined to say whether denuclearization remained his goal in seeking renewed talks with Pyongyang. “The United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea,” a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday in response to a question on whether the administration’s goal remained unchanged. Another U.S. official said separately that “there has been no change in U.S. policy.” The statements mark the clearest response from the Trump administration on the issue since the president raised questions over Washington’s longstanding denuclearization policy with a series of conciliatory gestures toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump recently ordered a reduction in the annual South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise and has expressed interest in meeting Kim again later this year. Questions over Washington’s position intensified after Trump said on Aug. 19 that North Korea possesses about 57 nuclear weapons, an unusually specific public reference to the size of Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal. Asked later that day whether denuclearization remained his objective in seeking to reengage Kim, Trump declined to answer directly. “Well, I don't want to talk about that,” Trump said, before emphasizing his personal relationship with the North Korean leader and arguing that South Korea and Japan were safer with him as president. His response fueled speculation that Washington could be considering a shift away from demanding complete denuclearization toward negotiations focused on managing or limiting North Korea’s existing nuclear arsenal. South Korea has also sought to dispel concerns over a potential policy shift. Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that South Korea and the United States continue to share the goal of denuclearization, despite the term being omitted from separate readouts of a recent phone call between Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “The two countries have consistently maintained the goals of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and denuclearization,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said. AJP Takeaways · The U.S. says it remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea. · The clarification follows Trump’s recent refusal to say whether denuclearization remains his goal. · South Korea and the U.S. continue to share denuclearization as a policy objective. 2026-08-27 11:06:39 -
Military brass rebel against academy merger at hearing SEOUL, August 26 (AJP) - President Lee Jae Myung and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back remain committed to merging South Korea's Army, Navy and Air Force academies into a single institution, but a raucous public hearing Wednesday exposed the depth of resistance among academy alumni, retired officers and military experts. What was supposed to be a forum for public debate quickly descended into angry shouting, profanity and heckling at the Defense Convention Center in Yongsan, central Seoul. Much of the anger was directed at Ahn, whose absence became an issue before the policy discussion even began. "Bring Ahn here now," some attendees shouted. Kim Hong-chul, head of the Ministry of National Defense's defense policy office, represented the ministry instead. Ahn's absence had already drawn criticism from academy alumni groups, which had demanded that the minister personally attend and hear their objections. The tension was apparent from the outset. Attendees shouted over organizers and demanded that the ministry scrap parts of its planned presentation. When officials asked the audience to remain seated and wait for the question-and-answer session, angry voices responded with profanity. "Shut your mouth!" one attendee shouted at the moderator. Others yelled at officials to "come down" from the stage. Organizers repeatedly appealed for what they called a "mature discussion culture," saying the hearing could not proceed if participants continued shouting without microphones. Even technical problems became part of the protest. When a promotional video prepared by the ministry failed to appear properly on screen, an opponent joked that "heaven helped us," drawing reactions from the audience. The video was eventually skipped and the ministry moved directly to its policy presentation. The confrontation intensified when the heads of alumni associations representing the three service academies took the floor. Park Pan-jun, president of the Korea Military Academy alumni association, accused the government of trying to push through the merger without sufficient consultation. "They are handling the closure of the service academies the way gangsters handle business," Park said. He argued that the plan would require the government to close the existing academies, build a new campus at the Jaun-dae military complex in Daejeon and relocate units already based there, resulting in massive public spending. "I am certain this plan cannot be carried through to the end," Park said. "It will only waste the national budget and the country's resources." Park also criticized Ahn for staying away from the hearing, saying alumni groups had specifically asked the minister to attend because he was ultimately responsible for the policy. "We asked that the minister come, listen, answer questions and tell us what he intends to do," Park said. "But once again, the minister stayed away." Lee Beom-rim, president of the Naval Academy alumni association, delivered an even sharper warning. Lee criticized the ministry for announcing plans to preserve monuments and memorial facilities at the existing academy sites before Wednesday's hearing, arguing that such preparations suggested the merger had effectively already been decided. "If you say you are holding a public hearing to listen to the people, then are all these procedures nothing more than a formality to establish procedural legitimacy?" he said. "Are you saying the train will keep running even if the dogs bark?" Lee continued. "Dogs do not only bark. They can bite and tear." He then addressed Ahn directly. "I warn the defense minister once again not to go down in history as a sinner." Hwang Sung-jin, president of the Air Force Academy alumni association, pointed to President Lee's own recent remarks that government proposals should remain open to criticism and revision during public consultation. "Why is the Ministry of National Defense not applying the commander-in-chief's own instruction to the creation of the Armed Forces Academy?" Hwang asked. Behind much of Wednesday's anger was another set of remarks by Lee earlier this month. During a televised government briefing on Aug. 5, Lee criticized the historical role of Korea Military Academy graduates in South Korea's military coups and questioned why the institution had never been held accountable. He urged Ahn to move quickly on integrating the service academies. Lee's comments have since become a rallying point for opponents, who argue that the merger risks being interpreted as political punishment rather than military education reform. Kim Se-jin, secretary-general of the civic group Future Thinking and one of three anti-merger panelists, rejected the president's characterization during Wednesday's debate. Kim argued that criminal responsibility belonged to individuals who took part in past coups, not to an educational institution or generations of cadets who had nothing to do with them. "The government has already decided the conclusion and is only pretending to listen," Kim said earlier in his presentation, accusing officials of repeatedly producing new justifications for the merger after previous arguments came under criticism. He later directly challenged Lee's remarks about three coups and questioned why today's cadets should bear responsibility for the actions of past graduates. "Is Korea Military Academy a school of potential coup criminals?" Kim asked. Even one panelist supporting the creation of a unified academy sought to distance the reform from the idea of collective punishment. Doo Jin-ho, head of the Eurasia Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said it was an undeniable historical fact that some Korea Military Academy graduates had participated in past coups and political intervention. But, he said, "it is difficult to justify attributing the historical wrongdoing of certain individuals to the Korea Military Academy as an educational institution, including its past, present and future graduates." "The essence of creating the Armed Forces Academy is not whether to impose punitive responsibility on a particular academy," Doo said. "It should be about how to scientifically redesign the officer training system for the future security environment." The government has framed the merger largely as a response to changes in modern warfare. Officials argue that military operations increasingly span land, sea, air, space, cyber and the electromagnetic spectrum, while artificial intelligence and unmanned systems are blurring traditional boundaries between the armed services. Under the basic plan announced July 16, the Army, Navy and Air Force academies would be integrated into a single four-year institution at Jaun-dae in Daejeon. The government says the overhaul is intended to strengthen joint operations and prepare future officers for a rapidly changing security environment. Cadets would receive more common education during the early part of their studies before moving into more service-specific training. The ministry also argues that the reform would help the armed forces cope with South Korea's shrinking pool of military-age recruits while creating an officer corps better equipped for joint warfare. Opponents do not necessarily dispute those challenges. They argue instead that the government has failed to demonstrate why they require dismantling the existing academy system. They warn that integration could weaken the service-specific expertise, institutional identity and traditions developed separately by the Army, Navy and Air Force. That divide was visible throughout Wednesday's hearing. As Kim Hong-cheol attempted to explain the ministry's case, audience members repeatedly heckled him. At one point, after another burst of profanity, Kim responded from the podium: "Please do not swear. If you want to swear, do it after this is over." Around 300 people attended the hearing, including ministry officials, cadets, retired officers, academy alumni and members of the public. Cadets seated inside largely watched the confrontation without making public remarks. The ministry plans to incorporate views collected at the hearing as it draws up a more detailed blueprint around October. The government had previously said it would gather public opinion before finalizing the plan. But Wednesday's confrontation showed that the dispute has moved well beyond questions of curriculum, campuses and military efficiency. The merger has become entangled with competing interpretations of South Korea's history of military rule, distrust of the government's motives and fears among the services that decades-old institutional identities could disappear. If the scene in Yongsan was any indication, drawing up the blueprint may prove considerably easier than building consensus around it. AJP Takeaways • South Korea's Defense Ministry faced fierce opposition at a public hearing on plans to merge the Army, Navy and Air Force academies, with shouting, profanity and heckling repeatedly disrupting proceedings. • Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back's absence further angered academy alumni, who accused the government of treating the hearing as a formality after effectively deciding to proceed with the merger. • President Lee Jae Myung's criticism of Korea Military Academy graduates' role in past military coups has deepened resistance, with opponents arguing that today's academy and cadets should not bear collective responsibility for historical wrongdoing. • The government says a unified Armed Forces Academy in Daejeon would strengthen joint warfare capabilities and prepare officers for AI, unmanned systems and a shrinking military-age population, while opponents warn it could erode service-specific expertise and traditions. 2026-08-26 18:05:18