The Black Sea Straits: Turkey balances between the US and Russia
The territory of modern Turkey has economic-geographical and military-strategic advantages due to its control over the Black Sea Straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles. Control of the Black Sea Straits has always been strategically important to the great powers in world geopolitics and trade. Great Britain and Russia often clashed over the right to control the Straits. In August 1914, German ships, including the cruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau, attacked Russian ports after passing through the Black Sea Straits. This led to the Ottoman Empire joining World War…
Asia's military armoury is on the rise
In early December, Rob Phillips, spokesman for the US Army Pacific Command, announced Washington’s intention to begin deploying Tomahawk missiles with a range of about 2,700 kilometres, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, on islands in the Indo-Pacific region in 2024. The move will be the first ground deployment of intermediate-range missiles since the White House withdrew from the INF Treaty. It is noteworthy that the formal reason for breaking the agreement was Russia’s development of the 9M729 cruise missile, which allegedly falls under the ban. Now we see that the Americans were…
Launch of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile, 18 December 2023
As reported by the KCNA, the launch was in response to the second meeting of the “nuclear consultative group” which proposed a “large-scale joint exercise to prepare a ‘nuclear counterstrike’ against our Republic.” As we previously reported, at the event, the allies agreed on a plan to include nuclear operation scenarios in the 2024 military exercises, including the Ulchi Freedom Shield summer exercise. Kim Jong-un, his daughter and commanders from the DPRK’s General Department of Missile Engineering attended the drill: at 8:24 a.m…
A Chronicle of Inter-Korean Tensions in the Forth Quarter of 2023. Part Two: Actions of the North
This is the second part of the digest on inter-Korean tensions, dedicated to the DPRK actions. See the previous article to learn what the United States and the Republic of Korea did during the same period. Early in the morning on September 2, 2023, “a missile launch exercise was conducted to simulate a tactical nuclear attack to warn enemies of an actual nuclear war danger.” The launch came two days after the US and the ROK completed their 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise…
Turkey in search for new fighter jet...
Security issues imply ensuring a sufficient level of protection of vital objects and interests of the state. Among them, a special place is occupied by military security, i.e. constant strengthening of defence capability and equipping the army with the necessary arsenal of armaments and combat equipment to repel external threats and to solve military tasks specified by the military doctrine and the state leadership. Turkey, being a member of the NATO bloc, solves the tasks related to the renewal of the armament and combat equipment fleet in two ways…
Launch of a Satellite by North Korea Causes a New Turn in Escalating Tensions Part 5: It is Not Only About a South Korean Satellite
The final text in the series on the North Korean satellite launch will focus on the military and political response of “the southern side”, which had several aspects. The first aspect is the strengthening of the US strategic forces. An aircraft carrier group including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine Santa Fe (SSN-763) arrived in Busan before the launch and visited the Navy base on the Jeju-do island after it. It is alleged, that on October 23, in response to such actions, North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic…
North Korea launches a satellite, causing an escalation in tensions Part Four: The end of the Inter-Korean military agreement
NEO wrote about the possible termination of the inter-Korean military agreement (CMA, Comprehensive Military Agreement ) quite recently, mentioning that its zeroing will take place after the launch of the DPRK satellite. And so it happened. Recall that even before the launch, the Administration of the President of South Korea assumed that the CMA “could be suspended in the event North Korea goes ahead with its planned space rocket launch.” Conservative media…
North Korea launches a satellite, causing an escalation in tensions Part Two: Reactions by South Korea and the international community to the DPRK’s successful launch of a satellite
On December 1, 2023, the KCNA reported that the DPRK had launched its first military reconnaissance satellite, Malligyong-1, into low Earth orbit, and that the adjustment procedure had been completed. And on December 2, the Satellite Operations Office which will act as an autonomous military intelligence agency, began to perform its tasks. The information received by the new Office will be reported to the relevant executive department of the Central Military…
Washington and Tokyo are Preparing for a Conflict Over Taiwan
Japan sees itself as “Poland for Ukraine” in the event of escalation, and the United States is actively ramping up its production of the latest weapons. A little more than a month is left until the presidential elections in Taiwan, scheduled for January 13, 2024. In the run-up to elections, the candidate from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is currently leading in the polls, leaving his contenders from the opposition Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) behind. The lack of agreement between…
US Missiles Made For, Aimed at China
The United States is working toward fielding a number of new weapon systems including the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), the “Typhon” Mid-Range Capability missile launcher, and the “Dark Eagle” Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, all designed from the ground up almost entirely to fight China in a future war the US envisions it can wage to prevent the East Asian nation from surpassing it militarily and economically both within the Indo-Pacific region, and globally…
The Mideast Conflict and the Korean Peninsula: Part Two. South Korea’s Concerns
Recent developments on Israel’s borders have sparked exciting discussions among South Korean expert groups, the first of which notes that although Israel is a US ally, South Korea, with its specific attitude towards Israel, is more tightly connected to the Middle East than to Israel. During Park Chung-hee’s reign, South Korean migrant workers worked in the Middle East for many years, and these proceeds contributed significantly to the economic miracle. To recall, Korea and Israel established diplomatic relations…
On Kim Jong-un’s Visit to Russia, Part Three: Putin Left, Kim Stayed
Kim Jong-un’s visit turned out to be the DPRK leader’s longest trip outside the country. Although Vladimir Putin left for Moscow after the summit, Kim continued his trip around Primorye, combining pleasant and useful. The previous article ended with Kim’s arrival in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The DPRK leader was met at the railway station by the Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov, the Governor of Khabarovsk Krai Mikhail Degtyarev and the head of Komsomolsk-on-Amur Alexander Zhornik. Mikhail Degtyarev showed…