Another Update on North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea announced on Wednesday that its leader, Kim Jong-un, had assumed the title of marshal, a move widely seen as aimed at bolstering his authority over the military, which analysts say he has been trying to tame through a reshuffling of top generals. The announcement of Mr. Kim’s new, seemingly redundant title — he had already been the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army — was made two days after the dismissal of the chief of the military’s general staff, Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho. On Tuesday, North Korea announced the promotion of a little-known general to vice marshal. The shifting fortunes of the generals reflected Mr. Kim’s attempt to use the increased leverage of the ruling Workers’ Party to rein in the military and consolidate his grip on the power, analysts said.“There is a power game going on, and it’s clear that the party people won the first round against the military generals,” said Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies in Seoul, referring to the governing Workers’ Party. “What we see is not just the reshuffle of the military, but the continuation of the reshuffle of the power elite.”Analysts said they were unsure if the young Mr. Kim, who took over in December after his father died, was responding to a perceived challenge to his authority or was taking a proactive move to solidify control.There was no indication so far that his actions would translate into a change in foreign policy, which remains grounded on the notion that the country is under imminent threat from South Korea and the United States.The promotion of Hyon Yong-chol to vice marshal, announced in the main party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, followed the removal of Vice Marshal Ri, who was also one of the highest-ranking members of the Workers’ Party. The official explanation for his departure was illness, but analysts cast doubt on that because he had recently been seen in photographs with Mr. Kim and looked healthy.In dealing with a country as opaque as North Korea, analysts had few clues to go on when assessing the importance of the military shuffle. They based their judgments on the recent appointments of family members of Mr. Kim and some of his closest allies in the Workers’ Party to top military posts, as well as hints of change in Mr. Kim’s first public speech, in April.In that speech, Mr. Kim used the term “the party’s military” several times in what experts say might have been a clue that he intended to use the party to diminish the political power of the one-million-member military, whose influence had expanded under his father, Kim Jong-il.After suffering a stroke in 2008, Kim Jong-il designated Vice Marshal Ri to help his sonwin the military’s allegiance to smooth his succession. But Kim Jong-il also appointed Kim Kyong-hui, a beloved sister, and her husband, Jang Song-thaek, to help his son win a strong following in the Workers’ Party, analysts say, setting up a possible struggle for the young man’s loyalty.Some analysts saw signs of palace intrigue in the removal of Vice Marshal Ri, with the implication that the aunt and uncle, now both four-star generals, and their allies in the party had won a crucial battle.“The young and inexperienced Kim Jong-un is riding the backs of his aunt and uncle,” said Baek Seung-joo, the chief North Korea analyst at the state-financed Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul. Mr. Chang, with the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, said that the struggle was not over and that the generals might try to fight back. “Even if it’s not yet a challenge to Kim Jong-un’s own power,” he said, “we may see more conflicts between the party and the military as they fight for their stakes within his regime.”

Viewers at a train station in South Korea watch as North Korea's state media reported Kim Jong-un was given the title of marshal.

Link to news: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/world/asia/shifts-in-north-korea-may-be-attempt-to-rein-in-military.html?_r=1

UAE and Bahrain complete joint military exercise

Abu Dhabi: The UAE and Bahrain yesterday concluded a joint air force military exercise with the participation of UAE Air Forces and Air Defence and the Royal Bahraini Air Force.The exercise, ‘Union of Falcons 1 / 2012’, comes within the framework of military cooperation and coordination in the field of military expertise and information between the countries. It also falls within the framework of a series of joint exercises carried out between GCC countries to train personnel in the field of planning and managing joint military operations, and activating unified procedures for planning and carrying out these operations.The joint exercise included training in a number of areas such as air military movement and defence, in addition to tactical maneouvering, air force operations, and piloting.Major General Pilot Ebrahim Nasser Al Alawi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, said that this joint military exercise is in no way linked to current regional and international events. He pointed out that GCC forces were keen on developing military exercises and preparation by continuing to carry out such military exercises that help increase the military preparedness, which complements the march of comprehensive development of all its military units, arms and equipment

Link to news: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/uae-and-bahrain-complete-joint-military-exercise-1.1044697

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Canadian military focus shifting more toward Asia-Pacific

OTTAWA — Against a backdrop of booming economic activity and underlying regional tensions, more than 1,400 Canadian troops are participating in a massive U.S.-led military exercise in the Pacific this month.
It's not the first time Canada has been involved in the Rim of Pacific exercise, or RIMPAC, which has been held every two years since 1974.
But this year's iteration features the largest-ever contribution of Canadian military personnel and equipment — and is the first time Canadians have occupied senior leadership positions within the predominantly American operation.
It's also the latest in a string of efforts to project the Canadian Forces' image into the Asia-Pacific region as Canada pursues economic opportunities amid an environment of simmering conflicts.
"The security domain in the region is not very solid," said retired rear-admiral Roger Girouard, who served as commander of the navy's Pacific force until 2007.
"The way to overcome these things is for more and more nations to be exerting their presence."
There is a growing sense that while the Pacific Rim has been the scene of extraordinary economic growth in recent years, China's unquenchable thirst for energy and natural resources are causes for concern.
"It raises these flashbacks to the rise of Japan before the Second World War," said Girouard.
"Japan went to war to secure its access to resources. I'm not saying that is what's going to happen, but it is on the spectrum of possibilities."
China, which has emerged as the Asia-Pacific region's military powerhouse, has already bumped up against a number of its neighbours over contested maritime boundaries and navigation rights.
It is currently in a standoff with the Philippines over a tiny atoll in the South China Sea and has been involved in an increasingly tense back-and-forth with Japan over a string of uninhabited islands in the fish- and resource-rich East China Sea.
Given the economic importance of the region and the size of the players involved, any conflict could have a major destabilizing impact that would be felt even by Canada.
"Our interests are clearly in sustaining a peaceful and regular transit of goods from Asia," said Brian Job, a defence expert at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.
"There would be some spillover effects certainly for Canada should those economic routes be disrupted. The energy market would be in turmoil and trade would be dislocated. And more generally, you'd see an upset in relationships."
China has also been flexing its muscles in the Arctic, challenging assertions that the treasure trove of natural resources that lie below the ocean floor are the sole domain of northern nations.
"They're coming up into our Arctic saying, 'These are international resources and this is the global commons,'" Girouard said. "These cause tensions."
The U.S. has already announced it is pivoting or rebalancing its military toward Asia, from the old Cold War-era focus on Europe.
This has included posting marines in northern Australia for the first time, signing new defence agreements with Singapore and the Philippines, and basing 60 per cent of its naval forces in the region.
While Canada isn't about to deploy massive numbers of troops, ships and aircraft to the region, the Canadian Forces has made a number of inroads.
During a three-country tour through East Asia in March, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Canada had signed an agreement strengthening military ties with Japan.
Then, at the beginning of June, Defence Minister Peter MacKay attended a high-level Asia security forum in Singapore, where he talked about trying to "reconnect" Canada with "the Pacific community of nations."
MacKay also revealed that Canada was hammering out a logistics agreement with Singapore that would give the Canadian military a foothold in the region.
"Clearly there's a full-court press on the trade side, and this would be seen as complementary to that," Job said of the Conservative government's recent actions in Asia.
"There's a real co-ordinated effort to raise our profile."
What isn't clear is the degree to which the Conservative government will commit the Canadian Forces to the region — and whether it will sustain the enhanced engagement.
"The defence side of this (engaging Asia) is always going to be limited on the basis of our resources," said Job.
"It's very, very difficult to suggest that there's a rationale for any sustained military presence in the South China Sea area. But we certainly have taken steps that are quite in contrast to where we were a couple of years ago."

Link to news:http://www.canada.com/news/Canadian+military+focus+shifting+more+toward+Asia+Pacific/6942396/story.html

Updates on North Korea General

 North Korea elevated a little-known general to the rank of vice marshal—the top title of the senior military official ousted Monday—as diplomats and analysts puzzled over the biggest shake-up in the regime since Kim Jong Eun took power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December.
Military figures in recent years have taken a huge number of positions in the ruling Worker's Party, and when Kim Jong Il died they held more posts than at any previous point in his 17-year reign. But the ouster Monday of Ri Yong Ho, coming after three civilians were put in military positions and two military leaders were removed in April, appears to signal a reversal of that trend, some analysts said.
"I think the tide has turned," said Aidan Foster-Carter, a North Korea watcher at LeedsUniversity in England. "Under Kim Jong Il, possibly because his own military credentials weren't so strong, the military rose significantly. But Kim Jong Eun's arrival has been managed by the political party."
Others cautioned that it is too early to know precisely why Mr. Ri, a longtime confidante of the Kim family, lost his job—though most outsiders doubt the official explanation that he was ill. They note Mr. Ri appeared healthy in recent pictures, frequently at Kim Jong Eun's side.
"It's very difficult to tell," said Moon Chung-in, a Yonsei University political scientist and participant in the inter-Korean summit meetings in 2000 and 2007. "But if there is a confrontation happening between the civilian leaders and the military, that would lead to a major rupture in North Korea."
The North's state news agency, which used a mere four sentences to announce the dismissal of Mr. Ri on Monday, took just two on Tuesday to report the promotion of Hyon Yong Chol, who became one of six vice marshals at the head of the North's military. He wasn't appointed to the political posts that Mr. Ri held.
North Korea's state news agency said nothing else about the leadership change, and on Tuesday continued its routine of heatedly criticizing South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, countries it routinely portrays as scheming to invade it. The agency also reported the departure of the North's Olympic team for London and the efficiency of "new kinds of stone-processing machines" at a Pyongyang factory.
Officials in the U.S. on Monday played down the significance of the shakeup.
South Korea's top official for dealing with the North, Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik, steered clear of the matter, and on Tuesday reissued an invitation to Mr. Kim's government for working-level talks on matters including reunions of separated Korean families.
Japanese officials said they were following developments in the North with interest. China, North Korea's economic benefactor and principal political ally, made no comment.
Zhang Liangui, professor of international strategic research at the Party School of the China Communist Party Central Committee, said North Korea is "very mysterious."
"It's hard for us to understand exactly what they are up to," he added. "But from my understanding, this appears to be political combat."
The ousted Mr. Ri had been a rising star since 2003, when he was put in charge of the military unit guarding the capital city and responsible for the Kim family's personal security. His power grew just as the number of military leaders holding positions in non-military parts of the North Korean regime skyrocketed. Since Kim Jong Il signaled in 2009 that his son Kim Jong Eun would succeed him, many analysts have viewed the political prominence of military officials as evidence the Kim family needed military support for the transition.
Among the people to gain a bigger role in April was Choe Ryong Hae, a general's son who held political jobs until September 2010, when he was named a general—despite never having served in the military—on the same day as Kim Jong Eun. In April, Mr. Choe was elevated to vice marshal and put in charge of political operations in the military.
"Even more directly than Ri's departure, with Choe's appointment, the party is trying to show the military who's boss," Mr. Foster-Carter said.




Link to news: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303612804577532403475602384.html?mod=googlenews_wsj