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  • South Korea, US kick off join military drill amid Pyongyang’s criticism

    South Korea and the United States began annual military exercises on Monday, seeking to boost their combined defense capabilities against nuclear-armed North Korea, which accused the allies of practicing to invade it.

    The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which will last  until Aug. 29, come as North Korea races to advance its nuclear and missile programs and seeks to launch reconnaissance satellites, while boosting its military cooperation with Russia. 

    The drills will include both computer-simulated war games and more than 40 types of field exercises, including live-fire drills, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, or JCS.

    They will also focus on enhancing readiness against various North Korean threats, including missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattack, it added. 

    About 19,000 South Korean military personnel will participate in the drills, which will be held concurrently with civil defense and evacuation drills from Monday through Thursday that will include programs based on North Korean nuclear attack scenarios.

    The US military has not confirmed the number of its troops taking part. There are about 28,500 U.S. military personnel in South Korea.

    South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged a thorough readiness posture against North Korea, calling it “the most reckless and irrational country” in the world.

    “Through this exercise, we must build up our readiness and capabilities to respond strongly to any North Korean provocations,” Yoon told a cabinet meeting, noting the North’s recent progress in its nuclear and missile programs, as well as its continued propaganda and incitement against South Korea, including sending balloons carrying trash over the border. 

    “As the United States and South Korea have safeguarded peace on the Korean Peninsula through an ironclad joint defense posture and a strong deterrent force against North Korea, this exercise will allow us to examine our defense posture in various ways and demonstrate the strength of our alliance,” he added. 

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    The exercise began hours after North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a statement repeating the North’s contention that such exercises are provocative war drills for aggression.

    It said North Korea’s nuclear ambitions were thus justified, adding that it was crucial to “constantly maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence.”

    South Korea and the U.S. did not immediately comment on the North Korean statement but described their joint drills as defensive in nature adding that they have been expanding and upgrading their training in recent years to cope with the North’s evolving threats. 

    During last year’s exercises, Pyongyang conducted ballistic missile tests that it described as simulating scorched earth nuclear strikes on South Korean targets. 

    Edited by RFA Staff.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Cambodian canal project to kick off on Hun Sen’s birthday

    Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has announced that work on the Funan Techo canal project will begin on Aug. 5, his father Hun Sen’s birthday, with an official breaking of ground for the project, media reported.

    The canal, proposed and approved when Hun Sen was head of the government, is increasingly portrayed in Cambodia as one of the veteran leader’s great legacies.

    Hun Manet was quoted by the pro-government Fresh News as saying  that the canal was no longer a foreign invested project but was now primarily owned by Cambodian companies, with a  51% stake.

    The main stakeholders are the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, he said at an event at the Kampot port, adding that the canal would still be developed as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.

    The prime minister did not mention China or a Chinese company in his speech, though the Cambodian government last October signed an agreement with the China Bridge and Road Corporation (CBRC) allowing it to develop the canal.

    The 180-km (112 mile) canal, officially known as the Tonle Bassac Navigation Road and Logistics System Project, will connect the Cambodian coastal province of Kep on the Gulf of Thailand with the inland provinces of Kandal and Takeo and the capital Phnom Penh via a tributary of the Mekong River.

    Map (2).jpg
    Map of the proposed Funan Techo canal. (Cambodia National Mekong Committee)

    It has caused a rift with neighboring Vietnam, which is worried about the  ecological impact on its rice-growing Mekong  delta, as well as the overall influence of China in the region. The delta is already at risk of encroaching seawater, partly due to lower flows of fresh water down the Mekong.

    Questionable viability?

    Hun Manet was quoted as saying that the canal would benefit the Cambodian people and not foreign interests. He called for unity and support for the project that would take four to six years to complete at a cost of US$1.7 billion.

    An analyst told RFA that the project “appears to be on shaky financial grounds.”

    “The ownership and financing details change on this project from month to month it seems,” said Brian Eyler, Southeast Asia program director at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

    “First the project was to be financed by a Chinese entity and then built and owned for 40-50 years by CBRC. Now Khmer investors will pay for 51% and no construction company has been named by the prime minister,” Eyler said.

    “It’s common though for projects to have a groundbreaking ceremony and then there is no further progress on the project for a long period,” the analyst said.  “I’m willing to bet the Funan Techo canal will be one of them.”

    Experts also question the timing of the launch of construction as the project area sits in an active floodplain that is inundated during the monsoon season which generally runs from June to October, making it expensive and risky to dig a canal.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China-Cambodia joint military exercise to kick off on May 16

    A major military exercise between China and Cambodia, the Golden Dragon 2024, is going to take place on May 16-30, a Cambodian official source said.

    The Royal Gendarmerie – a branch of Cambodia’s armed forces – said on its Facebook page that the drills will be held under the theme “Counter-terrorism Operations and Humanitarian Relief” at two main locations in Kampong Chhnang and Sihanoukville provinces.

    General Chhum Sucheat, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, also told a press conference in Phnom Penh that the exercise will begin on May 16.

    This is the sixth Golden Dragon joint exercise between the two militaries since 2016. It was canceled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Chhum Sucheat was quoted in Cambodian media as saying that the two Chinese vessels, which have been docking in Cambodia’s Ream naval base since last December, are there to help train the Cambodian navy and prepare for the joint exercise.

    The military spokesman rejected allegations that the Chinese navy had been using facilities at Ream as a military base.

    The prolonged training focuses on “technical skills in the use of ships and weapons as well as other new technologies,” according to Chhum Sucheat, who added that the Chinese side was also testing the quality of the upgraded Ream naval base which China helped develop.

    Cambodia is planning to purchase similar warships to those docked at the base, the general said.

    Naval drills

    The two Chinese warships at Ream are believed to be China-built Type 056 guide-missile corvettes. The 1,500-ton vessels are fitted with anti-ship missiles as well as torpedoes and can carry a helicopter. 

    Besides the two corvettes, the Chinese navy has also dispatched two more warships to Cambodia for training exercises with the Cambodian navy.

    Beijing’s Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday that training ship Qijiguang and landing ship Jinggangshan are on their way to train together with Cambodian naval personnel in May.

    The Jinggangshan, a Type 071 amphibious landing ship that can carry up to 800 troops, also took part in the Golden Dragon 2023 and conducted an unprecedented maritime exercise with the Cambodian navy in the waters off Sihanoukville.

    With the four Chinese warships present, the maritime drills this year are expected to be more extensive. Staff from the two navies will train in maritime counter-terrorism operations as well as search-and-rescue at sea. 

    Military ties between China and Cambodia have deepened in recent years, with Beijing providing aid, equipment and training to Cambodian forces. In 2021, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia over concerns about “deepening Chinese military influence”.

    Edited by Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Philippines, Japan, US coast guards kick off first trilateral sea exercises

    The coast guards of defense allies the Philippines, United States and Japan kicked off their first-ever joint drills Thursday in waters adjacent to the South China Sea amid tensions with Beijing in that contested maritime region.

    The weeklong Kaagapay (Side-by-Side) Exercises 2023 were inaugurated when the respective American and Japanese coast guard ships, the Stratton and the Akitsushima, docked at Manila’s South Harbor during the day.

    The drills, scheduled through June 7, will involve exercises in maritime law enforcement, maritime security and safety, search and rescue, as well as environmental protection, officials said.

    Most of the exercises will take place in the municipality of Mariveles, along the Bataan Peninsula near the South China Sea, Philippine Coast Guard Vice Adm. Rolando Punzalan Jr. said.

    “The U.S. Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard have been assisting us in our human resource development program, particularly in law enforcement training. This is a good opportunity to thank and show them what our personnel learned from their programs,” Punzalan said in a speech during the welcoming ceremony.

    Diplomats and officials from the three countries were on hand for the ships’ arrival. It occurred two days after the American military accused China of carrying out a dangerously aggressive maneuver in the skies above the South China Sea when a Chinese fighter jet flew close and across the flight path of a U.S. reconnaissance plane.

    The Chinese government has since responded by accusing the U.S. of fanning tensions through provocative actions such as sending reconnaissance flights over the disputed waters. Beijing described these as a threat to its sovereignty and security, according to reports.

    The unprecedented trilateral drills are happening more than a month after the Philippines and the U.S. held their biggest annual Balikatan joint exercises in the coastal town of San Antonio in Zambales, a province that also faces the South China Sea. 

    The current drills also follow an announcement by Manila and Tokyo that they would boost defense ties.

    1922059d-d26f-423b-a450-5d3319c63417.jpeg
    The Akitsushima (PLH-32), a Japan Coast Guard ship, is pictured after it docked at Manila’s South Harbor, June 1, 2023. (Jeoffrey Maitem/BenarNews)

    Kenichi Matsuda, the interim chargé d’affaires at the Japanese embassy who was on hand, affirmed his government’s support for the trilateral drills and underscored what he said was the “shared history” among the three countries.

    “We will concretely advance cooperation with the Philippines to bolster maritime security capabilities and freedom of navigation,” Matsuda said.

    Japan, as a maritime nation, “has a stake to uphold and protect rules-based maritime order,” he said.

    It has been helping the Philippine Coast Guard with its modernization. This includes a loan for the PCG’s two capital ships, the 97-meter (318-foot) multi-role response ships BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Melchora Aquino, which are among the ships that will participate in the trilateral exercises.

    “This first tri-lateral engagement between the coast guards of these nations will provide invaluable opportunities to strengthen global maritime governance through professional exchanges and combined operations,” said Capt. Brian Krautler, the U.S. Coast Guard commander of the Stratton.

    “Together we’ll demonstrate professional, rules-based standards of maritime operations with our steadfast partners to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

    In contrast to remarks from the Japanese and American officials, PCG spokesman Armand Balilo played down the drills, saying these were not meant to deter China.

    “This is a coast guard exercise on maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, that’s all,” Balilo told reporters. 

    “This has nothing to do with the issues in the West Philippine Sea,” he added, referring to waters claimed by Manila in the South China Sea.

    China has competing claims in the South China Sea with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam. In 2016, an international tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines and against Beijing’s sweeping “nine-dash line,” but China has since refused to acknowledge the ruling.

     BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Jeoffrey Maitem and Camille Elemia for BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.