Free Republic

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week's joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said on Friday. The test of the "Haeil-5-23" system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by the defence ministry's think tank in the waters off its east coast, the report said, without specifying a date.

I have no idea why the DOJ is putting out a press release about this. It seems more like the sort of thing to never mention again. A U.S. Navy service member was sentenced today to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for transmitting sensitive U.S. military information to an intelligence officer from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in exchange for bribery payments. According to court documents, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, aka Thomas Zhao, of Monterey Park, California, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and...

South Africa, alas, is not our friend. Despite decades of financial and moral support from the United States, South Africa is drifting into alignment with our rivals for global supremacy. Daniel Greenfield reports for Front Page Magazine:In November 2022, Climate Envoy John Kerry announced a giveaway of $1 billion in foreign aid to South Africa. The failed racist state which regularly suffers blackouts from its socialist power system was being offered billions to subsidize electric cars and green energy.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed that “President Ramaphosa and the South African Government have created a bold plan identifying a clear strategy...

A recent surge in illegal migration into Lithuania represents a hybrid attack on that country and the region and European Union as a whole, defense minister Kalle Laanet (Reform) says. Laanet said Friday that: "Lithuania is our close ally, and our duty is to support them immediately in this crisis." "We are also ready to send three unmanned aircraft crews to Lithuania from August 1 to improve situational awareness at the border," he added, according to a defense ministry press release. Laanet made the remarks during a phone call with his Lithuanian opposite number Agnė Bilotaitė, while both ministers agreed...

Australia, Japan, and America are conducting trilateral military exercises in Guam as the allies look to strengthen joint response times in the face of the growing threat of China and Russia in the Indo-Pacific region. The Cope North 21 exercises will see over 2,000 military personnel convene at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam with approximately 95 aircraft from America, Australia, and Japan. Group Captain Nathan Christie, Australian Commander for Exercise Cope North 21, said the allies will conduct combat-readiness exercises, procedures for humanitarian aid, and disaster relief operations. Led this year by the Koku-Jieita (Japan Air Self-Defence Force), the United...

Dani Rodrik has just returned from Turkey, shunned while defending his father-in-law, the main defendant in the military coup plot case. The Harvard professor explains his take. IN DECEMBER I traveled to Turkey with my wife and young son, as we do every year during winter break. This time, though, we had more than visiting family and friends in mind. We were on a mission to demonstrate that what many have called the trial of the century in Turkey is in fact a sham built on fabricated evidence. Nearly two hundred Turkish military officers stand accused of having plotted a...

U.S. Navy and Chilean Air Force aircraft participate in a fly-by adjacent to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington during Exercise UNITAS 2105 in the Pacific Ocean, Oct. 20, 2015. UNITAS 2015 is the U.S. Navy's longest running annual multinational maritime exercise, and is part of Southern Seas 2015.

Poland launched on Wednesday the largest ever exercise of the Polish Armed Forces, "Anaconda", involving 12,500 soldiers, including 750 from NATO members, in response to security concerns over situation in neighboring Ukraine. This year's "Anaconda" includes soldiers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Hungary, Britain, Canada and, for the first time in history, the United States – namely, the U.S. Army’s 18th Military Police Brigade.

With no warning for residents, military helicopters flew low Monday evening over St. Paul and Minneapolis in a federal training exercise, about which officials released almost no information. The exercise -- reportedly involving U.S. Navy Seals with Army pilots, engaging in rappelling exercises in an urban setting -- began just before 8 p.m. and was scheduled to last until midnight. The St. Paul police watch commander initially had no information on the exercise. He was later informed that it was a training exercise involving Homeland Security and local law enforcement. . . . Many downtown residents said they were shocked...

Airborne troops from Russia and the Untied States would hold joint anti-terror drills in the U.S. state of Colorado between May 24 and 31, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Col. Alexander Kucherenko said on Thursday. According to the spokesman, it will be the first time that the Russian airborne forces have held exercises with the U.S. airborne forces on the U.S. territory. "According to the exercise scenario, soldiers of the two countries will hold a tactical airborne operation, including the reconnaissance of imaginary terrorists' camp and a raid," Kucherenko said. "After the operation, a helicopter will evacuate the soldiers,"...

N.Korea Seen Conducting Large-Scale Military Drill Soon Reports from South Korea indicate a large-scale military exercise by North Korea appears to be imminent. South Korean government sources say, based on information from intelligence teams, North Korea appears poised for a rare, large-scale military drill. Government officials, who do not want to be named, say they are "observing closely" North Korean positions. But they say there are no indications the massing of military personnel appears to be anything more than a drill. The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Admiral Michael Mullen, addressing reporters in Washington on Monday,...

N. Korea threatens 'real war' as tension heightens at sea By Sam Kim SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- Just a day after North Korea fired artillery shells into its waters near the border with South Korea, the communist state threatened Tuesday to use its nuclear deterrent to show "what a real war is like" if such action is necessary. The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, however, stressed in an editorial that the only way to defuse military tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul is to "create a peaceful atmosphere." North Korea "will clearly show to those...

The United States and South Korea will go ahead next month with a major annual military exercise set to anger North Korea but fewer US troops than last year will take part, officials said Thursday. North Korea denounces the exercise and other annual military drills in the South as a rehearsal for invasion, a claim denied by Seoul and Washington. The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise, slated for March 8-18, will draw 18,000 US troops including 10,000 stationed in South Korea and 8,000 from abroad, said Combined Forces Command spokesman Kim Yong-Kyu. Some 26,000 US troops took part in...

South Korea, US launch massive joint military drills Xinhua Sun, Mar 2 10:55 AM Seoul, March 2 (Xinhua) South Korea and the US Sunday launched a six-day massive joint military exercise despite Pyongyang's strong opposition. A large portion of the 650,000-strong South Korean troops and around 18,000 US troops will participate in the 'Key Resolve' exercise Sunday to Friday, Yonhap News Agency quoted military officials as saying. The joint military exercise will be held across South Korea. Six thousand US troops from the American mainland and Pacific bases are also participating in the exercise. The 'Key Resolve' exercise will replace...

Sources: Airspace controls over east China could last until Sunday Airspace controls that were imposed over eastern China starting on Tuesday morning might be extended until Sunday, sources with the China Eastern airline company said Thursday. The controls, imposed for unspecified reasons, have affected thousands of passengers traveling to and from eastern China, particularly at airports in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Sources at the Baiyuan airport in Guangzhou, where flights were delayed for at least 1,600 passengers on Tuesday, said several flights were still affected on Thursday, but only for brief periods, with no large-scale passenger delays. The airport advised passengers...

India and Russia have agreed to hold joint wargames on Russian soil next year to enhance military ties and share experience in handling low-intensity conflicts at high altitudes, Army Chief General J J Singh said here. Singh, who is on his maiden visit to Russia, held wide- ranging talks with Chief of General Staff of the Russian armed forces General Baluyevsky and Commander-in-Chief of the Land forces Colonel General Alexei Maslov yesterday. "We have agreed to enhance our co-operation, including joint exercises on Russian soil in 2007," he told Indian reporters here. Describing his talks with Baluyevsky and Maslov as...

(Source: Debka.com from Deutsche Welle, Sept. 15, 2004) The German daily newspaper Die Welt claims that Syria tested chemical weapons on civilians in Sudan's Darfur region in June resulting in the deaths of dozens of people. The newspaper says that "unnamed western security sources" indicated that the weapons tests were undertaken following a military exercise between Syria and Sudan. The accusations appear in an advance release of its Wednesday edition. The United States has accused Syria in the past of trying to acquire materials and the know-how to develop chemical weapons and claims that Sudan has been seeking to improve...

Indian, Russian troops to hold military exercise www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-10 22:32:48 NEW DELHI, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- India and Russia Monday began preparing for a joint military exercise to counter terrorists, Indo-Asian News Service reported Monday. The week-long exercise, codenamed Indra 2005, is the largest such air and land maneuvers by the armed forces of the two countries and will feature the special forces of the two sides and comes close on the heels of a massive Russia-China war game. This will be the first time the militaries of India and Russia will train jointly to counter terrorists. Three Russian Il-76...

QINGDAO, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The second phase of the Sino-Russia joint military exercise started in east China's Shandong Peninsula Saturday morning. (Photos of Russian and Chinese troops and equipment) The new phase of exercise, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005", mainly focused on delivery and outspread, adjusting decisions, and organizing coordinated actions. Weapons and logistic and telecom support have all been ready for the joint drill, military sources at the spot said. The Chinese and Russian troops had already had their first joint practice on the three courses in the Shandong peninsula and its nearby seawaters on Aug. 14, 15...

Currently the US' seven aircraft carriers are busy holding a global military exercise. During the exercise, dubbed Summer Pulse 2004, the US puts altogether 150,000 troops from the army, navy and air force, more than 600 fighter planes and seven of its 12 carrier groups. The unprecedented scale, therefore, attracts the attention from various sides. Some analysts believe the US is holding a large aircraft carrier military drill with its eyes on China. The US intentions, however, do not stop at that. The military drill is not centered on west Pacific According to the CRI Online the US seven-carrier global...