🧵 Yesterday, on July 7th, Kim Jun-hyeong of the progressive Rebuilding Korea Party (RPK) condemned the previous 🇰🇷 government's aid to 🇺🇦 under impeached President Yoon Seok-yeol. He claims the aid was irresponsible, criminal & may even have had the purpose of aggravating 🇰🇵. 1) I've posted numerous times on 🇰🇷 aid to 🇺🇦, noting how due to low public interest & little political support, our self-imposed ban on arms exports to countries at war persists.

https://x.com/Korea_Defense/status/1804667164890116554

🧵 Officially disclosed allied intelligence has confirmed the transfer of advanced Russian weapons systems to North Korea in return for their troop deployment & arms transfers.
Among the Russian weapons is at least one Russian Pantsir short-range air defense (SHORAD) system.
1) This revelation comes from a report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) published on May 29th on military cooperation between Russia & North Korea.

🧵 Taking a close look at the acquisition projects worth $8.2 billion that were axed by the ROK Ministry of National Defense according to media reports from Feb 25.


1) The ROK Army won't acquire 36 additional AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters (we alr have 36 in two battalions under ROKA Aviation Cmmd). Since their adoption a decade ago, unit costs have risen by 160%, with the ROKA preferring to invest in new unmanned systems instead.

🧵 Interesting excerpts from the @KyivIndependent interview with Ukrainian Rangers, who captured one of the two North Korean soldiers in Kursk. 1) The KPA troops sent to 🇷🇺 aren't starving conscripts eager to defect, like many assumed (despite 🇰🇷&🇺🇦 intel publicly stating otherwise).
They are well-fed, trained & motivated troops of the KPA SOF.
There are 🇰🇷&🇺🇦 reports that wounded/trapped 🇰🇵 troops resort to suicide.

🧵 An attempt by Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) staff and police officers to carry out the arrest warrant on impeached President Yoon has failed after the Presidential Security Service (PSS) and ROK Army 55th Security Group physically barred the arrest team from entering.
1) In the above pictures, personnel & vehicles belonging to PSS & Army 55th SecGrp can be seen blocking CIO & police. Note the unarmed K151 Light Tactical Vehicle (KLTV), which is uniquely painted in all-black instead of the usual 3-color woodland camouflage.

Short 🧵 identifying the handful of units that were involved in the martial law operations at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. 1) Most prominently featured for their key role in entering the parliament bldg the farthest was the 707th Special Missions Group, the Army Special Warfare Command (SWC)'s premier counter terror unit and among the ROK's most elite.

🧵 Two days ago, @UKRinUN publicized its intel on the state of the North Korean deployment in Russia. Included were some details on how they'll be structured and which KPA generals are in charge. 1) First off, various reports of KPA troops having already been KIA/WIA or captured are still unconfirmed.
What we do know is that they've been getting refitted in 🇷🇺's Eastern Military District & then sent to stage near the frontlines in Kursk. RSOI may take several more days.

🧵 Analyzing 🇰🇵 troop deployments to 🇷🇺.
Read up on yesterday's news of confirmation that 🇰🇵 combat troops were headed to help 🇷🇺 in its war against 🇺🇦 here:

https://x.com/Korea_Defense/status/1847229246042751149?t=tzhcpmIfdQlKI3irIZpaXQ&s=19

1) As discussed in the thread above, the 1.5k SOF currently training in 🇷🇺 aren't the first 🇰🇵 troops to be deployed in support of the invasion of 🇺🇦. KPA missile technicians&officers have been near the front since Aug.

https://x.com/Sunshine864711/status/1847379004715913315?t=2MuYAoS30T7hPjb6GKmL2A&s=19

🇰🇵 troops in 🇺🇦?
1) Many accounts & some media outlets are reporting that 🇰🇵 will deploy a military unit to 🇷🇺-occupied regions in 🇺🇦. The articles don't mention a source & the only one I can find is yesterday's Pentagon press briefing. A journalist claimed that 🇰🇵 Central... 2) ...Military Commission had alr announced it was deploying an engineering unit to Donetsk. The Pentagon spokesperson said that was "smth to keep an eye on" twice, likely implying he hadn't heard a confirmation of that news.

🧵In 2023, 500k 155mm shells in 🇰🇷 stocks were sent to the 🇺🇸 to replace stocks sent to 🇺🇦. These were explicitly forbidden from going to 🇺🇦, as 🇰🇷 policy forbids this (much like 🇩🇪 pre-Zeitenwende).
But according to @AP, 🇰🇷 shells are being sent indirectly: 1) "In support of Ukraine the McAlester plant has also accelerated repair of Stinger and Hawk missiles and has refurbished South Korea-provided 155mm rounds with new markings and fuses."
This was revealed today by @AP, though the source is unclear.
abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/t…

🧵Some quick thoughts I had about the ROK military's issues with demographic decline and professional recruitment&retention while listening to Perun's newest video.

1) 0:43 Perun cites studies&data that ROK will be 10s of thousands of conscripts short of req manpower by 2030s. This is alr the case, esp ROKA is suffering from half-empty units. 2025 there'll be a conscript deficit of 40k (!!!).
m.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/A202…