Relations between North Korea and the United States have been historically tense and hostile. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations. Instead, they have adopted an indirect diplomatic arrangement using neutral intermediaries. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang is the US protecting power and provides limited consular services to U.S. citizens. North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), does not have an embassy in Washington, DC, but is represented in the United States through its mission to the United Nations in New York City which serves as North Korea's de facto embassy.
Song Min-soon is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2006 until 2008.
United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a supreme command for all of the South Korean and U.S. ground, air, sea and special operations component commands. Major USFK elements include U.S. Eighth Army (EUSA), U.S. Air Forces Korea, U.S. Naval Forces Korea (CNFK), U.S. Marine Forces Korea (MARFORK) and U.S. Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR). It was established on July 1, 1957.
The 607th Air Intelligence Squadron is located at Osan Air Base, home of the 51st Fighter Wing, roughly 40 miles (64 km) south of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. The squadron comprises six flights of approximately 180 officer and enlisted personnel. United States military personnel serve in the Republic of Korea (ROK), shoulder to shoulder with the ROK military, in order to ensure the continuation of the country's democratic government.
United Nations Command is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first attempt at collective security pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations.
Allied Joint Force CommandNaples is a NATO military command based in Lago Patria, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy. It was activated on 15 March 2004, after effectively redesigning its predecessor command, Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH), originally formed in 1951. In NATO Military Command Structure terms, AFSOUTH was a "Major Subordinate Command". The commander of JFC Naples reports to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Casteau, Belgium.
Psychological operations (PSYOP) are operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their motives and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and large foreign powers.
Formerly a single nation that was annexed by Japan in 1910, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into North Korea and South Korea since the end of World War II on 2 September 1945. The two governments were founded in the two regions in 1948, leading to the consolidation of division. The two countries engaged in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 which ended in an armistice agreement but without a peace treaty. North Korea is a one-party totalitarian state run by the Kim dynasty. South Korea was formerly governed by a succession of military dictatorships, save for a brief one-year democratic period from 1960 to 1961, until thorough democratization in 1987, after which direct elections were held. Both nations claim the entire Korean peninsula and outlying islands. Both nations joined the United Nations in 1991 and are recognized by most member states. Since the 1970s, both nations have held informal diplomatic dialogues in order to ease military tensions.
The 139th Airlift Wing is a unit of the Missouri Air National Guard, stationed at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, St. Joseph, Missouri. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.
Area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and conduct operations; for which a force, or component commander bears a certain responsibility. The term may also be used in other countries worldwide but it originated within the United States Armed Forces. This system is designed to allow a single commander to exercise command and control of all military forces in the AOR, regardless of their branch of service.
Key Resolve, previously known as Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, Integration (RSOI) which was previously known as Team Spirit even earlier, is an annual command post exercise (CPX) held by United States Forces Korea with the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. It is conducted between February and April and focuses on United States Pacific Command OPLANs that support the defense of South Korea. Additionally, US units are moved to Korea from other areas and they conduct maneuvers and gunnery exercises. ROK units also conduct maneuvers with some acting as the Opposing force (OPFOR). Since 2001, Key Resolve combined with the annual combined field training exercise (FTX) Foal Eagle.
Ulchi-Freedom Guardian is the name of the military exercise previously known as Ulchi-Focus Lens, a combined military exercise between South Korea and the United States. The exercise is the world's largest computerized command and control implementation, involving 50,000 South Korean troops alongside 17,500 U.S. troops in 2017, and mainly focuses on defending South Korea from a North Korean attack. The exercise was initiated in 1976 and is conducted annually during August or September. The word 'Ulchi' comes from the name of a famous Korean general called Eulji Mundeok, who was the Commander-In-Chief of the army of Goguryeo.
Exercise Northern Edge is a military joint training exercise conducted by the United States Armed Forces in the Gulf of Alaska. Alaskan Command (ALCOM) uses expansive Alaskan training ranges to conduct this joint training operation.
The Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) or, informally, the Q Course is the initial formal training program for entry into the United States Army Special Forces. Phase I of the Q Course is Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS). A candidate who is selected at the conclusion of SFAS will enable a candidate to continue to the next of the four phases. If a candidate successfully completes all phases they will graduate as a Special Forces qualified soldier and then, generally, be assigned to a 12-men Operational Detachment "A" (ODA), commonly known as an "A team." The length of the Q Course changes depending on the applicant's primary job field within Special Forces and their assigned foreign language capability but will usually last between 56 and 95 weeks.
The Bombardment of Yeonpyeong was an artillery engagement between the North Korean military and South Korean forces stationed on Yeonpyeong Island on 23 November 2010. Following a South Korean artillery exercise in disputed waters near the island, North Korean forces fired around 170 artillery shells and rockets at Yeonpyeong Island, hitting both military and civilian targets.
Foal Eagle is a combined field training exercise (FTX) conducted annually by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the United States Armed Forces under the auspices of the Combined Forces Command. It is one of the largest military exercises conducted annually in the world. Foal Eagle has been a source of friction with the government of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and domestic ROK critics.
The United States Special Operations Command is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense and is the only unified combatant command created by an Act of Congress. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
United States–China security cooperation refers to various projects, combined operations, communications, official dialogues, joint exchanges, and joint exercises, between agencies, groups, and individuals within the government of United States and the People's Republic of China, in a number of areas pertaining to global security, defense policy, and various forms of military and security cooperation.
The 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis was a crisis on the Korean Peninsula, mainly revolving around North Korea's nuclear program. Largely caused by North Korea's announcement that it would withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1993 the tensions could have led to a war between North Korea and the US had not been for an agreement reached between Former President Jimmy Carter and then leader Kim Il Sung. It led to North Korea and the United States signing the Agreed Framework in October 1994, effectively ending the crisis.
