Archives Arms race - Page 5 of 6 - New Eastern Outlook

The launch of a North Korean satellite at the end of April 2023 brought the entire world to a standstill, but the South is also competing in the space race, and the author is paying close attention to the progress of the “Nuri” and “Tanuri” programs. A 200-ton South Korea’s KSLV-2 space launch vehicle, also known as Nuri, was launched on June 21, 2022, from the Naro Space Center in Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do Province. The ROK thus became the seventh country in the world, after Russia, the United States, France, China, Japan and India, to launch a satellite weighing more than one ton into space, on its own. The next launch of Nuri was scheduled for the first half of 2023, and until then Seoul announced its very ambitious plans to create a space command and build de facto dual-purpose missiles. The next step…

The US Army will have unfettered access to PNG’s territorial waters and airspace following a security cooperation agreement scheduled to be signed on about May 20, Radio New Zealand reported. According to the radio station, which has a draft document in its possession, under the agreement, which is expected to be signed soon by a senior US administration official, “the United States will provide its armed forces unhindered access to the territorial waters and airspace of this Pacific nation.” “Aircraft, vehicles, and vessels operated by or on behalf of the US Armed Forces shall be free to enter, exit, and move within PNG’s territory…

Military cooperation with the United States is ruinously expensive without any guarantees. The United States has recently increased its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. For instance, in March of this year, plans were made for the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra via the AUKUS bloc established in 2021. In February, the US and Philippine authorities agreed that the US military would have access to four more bases in the country (increasing their number to nine). Also, on April 12, representatives from Washington and Manila agreed to strengthen defense cooperation. On May 22, the US and Papua New Guinea signed…