Northeast Asia / NEA
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Features
Modern Militaries, Reinforced Alliances
FORUM Staff Technology is strengthening militaries tasked with maintaining security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Rapidly modernizing nations are transforming arsenals with advancements from cutting-edge aircraft and game-changing submarines to unmanned vehicles, space awareness tools and cyber defense upgrades. Meanwhile, security partnerships are encouraging scientific cooperation among like-minded militaries, and leaders are relying on the power of regional alliances to…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Implications of PLA Modernization
FORUM Staff The rise of an assertive People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the past decade and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) pursuit of large-scale military capabilities challenge the international security order throughout the Indo-Pacific and beyond, experts contend. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) modernization could have near- and long-term implications for regional stability that impact the South China Sea, Taiwan…
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Conflicts - Tensions
High-Risk Proposition
FORUM Staff The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) demonstrated the use of civilian ferries to launch a mock invasion of Taiwan during an August 2022 exercise. Using a custom-made ramp, the PLAN employed civilian roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ferries to load amphibious assault craft on a Chinese beach near the Taiwan Strait, according to USNI News, the daily…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Standing Firm Against the PRC’s New Expansionism
FORUM Staff | Photos by Reuters More signs are emerging that nations — especially in the Indo-Pacific — view the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a security threat. Indicators include Japan’s plan to drastically increase its defense spending, the election of a South Korean president critical of Chinese coercion and first-time participation in NATO’s annual summit by four Indo-Pacific…
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Conflicts - Tensions
COTS Devices Pass Muster
Once dismissed as inferior technology, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices such as aerial and maritime drones, secure mobile phones and GPS instruments are helping Ukraine counter Russia’s assault and drawing increased interest from militaries worldwide, including in the Indo-Pacific. A relatively small percentage of the equipment that Ukraine has used against Russian invaders is inexpensive, publicly available and quickly accessible. Aerial…
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Conflicts - Tensions
The CCP’s Political Warfare
Professor Kerry K. Gershaneck The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is waging existential warfare against the rest of the world. It is a war for global control, and the CCP aspires to win it without fighting — or at least without having to engage in major kinetic combat. The key to the CCP’s strategy is to ensure that target countries cannot…
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Across The Region
U.S. Forces Expand Space Unit in South Korea
U.S. Forces Korea launched a new space forces unit in December 2022 as allies South Korea and the United States ramp up efforts to counter North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats. U.S. Space Forces Korea is an overseas component of the U.S. Space Force and is tasked with detecting and tracking incoming missiles, as well as bolstering the military’s…
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Departments
Japan launching defense tech research agency, advancing railgun project
FORUM Staff Japan plans to create a research agency by 2024 to accelerate defense technology development. The agency will be modeled after the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and its Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), according to Shigenori Mishima, vice commissioner and chief technology officer at Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency. DARPA is the U.S. Defense Department’s…
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Departments
South Korea’s ‘Kill Web’ concept to neutralize North Korean threats
FORUM Staff To counter threats from North Korea’s emerging nuclear and missile capabilities, the Republic of Korea (ROK) military introduced the “Kill Web” concept in March 2023 to prevent missile strikes, according to news reports. Kill Web entails a layered, integrated structure that uses cyber operations, electronic warfare and other cutting-edge capabilities across all defense domains to disrupt and preempt…
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Climate
PRC’s growing thirst may spark tension with Russia over Lake Baikal
Tom Abke The People’s Republic of China (PRC) faces a water shortage and is eyeing Russia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake, as a possible solution to the crisis. However, Beijing’s attempts in recent years to import water from Lake Baikal have been dampened by Russian public opposition, despite initial support from the Kremlin. As the PRC’s thirst grows,…
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