► Anchored by the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty, combined military exercises on the Korean Peninsula have evolved significantly over the past seventy years, the ebb and flow of political tides on both sides of the Pacific Ocean resulting in a level of familiarity and intimacy unique in the history of military alliances. Despite numerous challenges, the oft-lauded blood alliance has endured. ► Moving ...

► Questions arose as to whether the UK’s progressively downsized post-Cold War defence capabilities could continue to fulfil Whitehall’s ambitions, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to remain a global security actor.   ► In the past 5 years since 2018, the UK government has stepped up its defence engagement, as part of a broader effort to deepen the UK’s ties with the In...

► Australian efforts to develop a more reciprocal military exercise relationship with South Korea have until recently been rebuffed. ► Three distinct strategic rationales underpin ROK-Australia military exercises: alliance, bilateral, and regional motivations. Each is currently changing. ► Australia welcomes recent ROK commitments to exercise more closely with Australia, if they can be sus...

► How does Japan evaluate its Joint Military Exercises and what is the strategic cost-benefit calculus? ► Is there a preferred format or partner? ► Japan’s exercises with ROK remain feasible mainly in a multilateral format, while Japan expects ROK to play more active roles responding to China’s rise.   Although constitutional status of its ‘Self-Defence Forces’ (SDF) rema...

► What would be the strategic proposition for JMEs between the armed forces of the Republic of Korea and Singapore? ► There is increasing awareness amongst the policy elites of both countries that, despite being separated by more than 30 degrees of latitude, geopolitical developments in either region have far-reaching security ramifications. ► Singapore, being one of the smallest countries ...

► The most critical drawback of the Korean Peninsula Peace Process, which took place under the overarching strategy to engage North Korea via dialogue, was the lack of ROK-US joint military preparedness.  ► The ROK-U.S. alliance has the most formidable forces in the world because of this mutual trust, which can only be attained through various military exercises. ► In conjunction, we ...

► On the Korean peninsula, the military relationship between ROK and U.S. has been able to maintain a strong military alliance that was overtly challenged during the Moon administration. Rather than relying on the graces of the US military, the South Koreans must be able to enhance understanding and work to compensate for the potential disconnect that will occur with relocation and change in the command struct...

► South Korea joined the warships of all the Quad countries conducted at Visakhapatnam (a port city in south-eastern India, on the Bay of Bengal). MILAN 2022 became the largest joint multilateral military exercise, hosted by the Indian Navy – witnessing the participation of around 42 countries, with ships from over 15 nations. ► By undertaking an intrepid and pragmatic path and policy of foreign p...

► What motivates South Korea to participate in MMEs? How has the focus on ROK-US bilateral military exercises influenced South Korea’s participation in MMEs and its expansion? How does this impact the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region? ► South Korea could approach MMEs as a form of military diplomacy to shape its relations with other militaries, facilitate defense industrial cooperation, ...