History UsefulNotes / SouthKoreansWithMarines

The Republic of Korea Navy is the naval branch of the ROK armed forces. Many ROK navy men revere Admiral Yi Sun Shin, who in the 16th century whacked a Japanese invasion fleet with his Turtle Boats, the world's first ironclads (according to some). The South Korean navy is currently building up its forces, including an amphibious assault ship/light carrier, to make it a blue-water navy in 2020 like that of its [[{{KaijuDefenseForce}} eastern neighbor and rival]].

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the U.S. military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This difference is rendered irrelevant by the nature of South Korea's defense needs: the U.S. has a combatant command for each theater of operations plus one each for special forces, nuclear weapons, and logistics. However, South Korea only has one theater of operations to speak of, has no nukes, and its special forces and logistics needs don't require a top-level command, so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is basically the commander for the country's lone combatant command. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military. In addition to the US influence, however, because a large number of combat-experienced Koreans who served in the [[KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese armed forces]] during WorldWar2 played an instrumental role in setting up South Korean military in the beginning, there was a distinctive Japanese flavor in its early days. This was remarked on by the Vietnamese during the VietnamWar, to whom South Koreans looked like a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to the Japanese whom they had to deal with a couple of decades before. Furthermore, since many of these Korean veterans of Japanese military had often fought against Leftist Korean guerrillas, this often becomes a point of controversy in South Korean politics.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the U.S. military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This difference is rendered irrelevant by the nature of South Korea's defense needs: the U.S. has a combatant command for each theater of operations plus one each for special forces, nuclear weapons, and logistics. However, South Korea only has one theater of operations to speak of, has no nukes, and its special forces and logistics needs don't require a top-level command, so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is basically the commander for the country's lone combatant command. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military. In addition to the US influence, however, because a large number of combat-experienced Koreans who served in the [[KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese armed forces]] during WorldWar2 played an instrumental role in setting up South Korean military in the beginning, there was a distinctive Japanese flavor in its early days. This was remarked on by the Vietnamese during the VietnamWar, to whom South Koreans looked like a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to the Japanese that they had to deal with a couple of decades before. Since many of these Korean veterans of Japanese military had often fought against Leftist Korean guerrillas, this often becomes a point of controversy.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the U.S. military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This difference is rendered irrelevant by the nature of South Korea's defense needs: the U.S. has a combatant command for each theater of operations plus one each for special forces, nuclear weapons, and logistics. However, South Korea only has one theater of operations to speak of, has no nukes, and its special forces and logistics needs don't require a top-level command, so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is basically the commander for the country's lone combatant command. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military. However, because the large number of Koreans served in the [[KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese armed forces]] during WorldWar2 played an instrumental role in setting up South Korean military in the beginning, there was a distinctive Japanese flavor in its early days. This was remarked on by the Vietnamese during the VietnamWar, to whom South Koreans looked like a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to the Japanese that they had to deal with a couple of decades before.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the U.S. military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This difference is rendered irrelevant by the nature of South Korea's defense needs: the U.S. has a combatant command for each theater of operations plus one each for special forces, nuclear weapons, and logistics. However, South Korea only has one theater of operations to speak of, has no nukes, and its special forces and logistics needs don't require a top-level command, so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is basically the commander for the country's lone combatant command. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military.

* In the JamesBond movie ''Film/DieAnotherDay it was criticized by South Koreans as they were were offended by the scene in which an American officer issues orders to the South Korean army in the defense of their homeland.

The Republic of Korea Navy is the naval branch of the ROK armed forces. Many ROK navy men revere Admiral Yi Sun Shin, who in the 16th century whacked a Japanese invasion fleet with his Turtle Boats, the world's first ironclads (no, really). The South Korean navy is currently building up its forces, including an amphibious assault ship/light carrier, to make it a blue-water navy in 2020 like that of its [[{{KaijuDefenseForce}} eastern neighbor and rival]].

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces was founded in 1948 in response to North Korean attacks leading to the KoreanWar. Most of the army at that time was more like a gendarmerie than a full army; when the North rolled its troops across the South, they curbstomped South Korea, until the United States decided to step in (and for a while afterward); the ROKAF later TookALevelInBadass, but a [[{{ChineseWithChopperSupport}} Chinese]] [[strike:mercenary]] voluntary army was sent by Mao Zedong, partly to help Kim Il-sung, partly because Mao feared China would be attacked by the U.S. via Manchuria and partly because Mao wanted to avoid having northern China flooded with North Korean refugees; a grinding war ensued until 1953, ending with Korea still being divided into two.

The TropeNamer, the ROKMAR, although theoretically under the direction of the Chief of Naval Operations, operates as a distinct arm of the military of South Korea. It has a {{Badass}} reputation; during the [[KoreanWar Korean]] and [[VietnamWar Vietnam]] Wars, they were so successful in fishing out North Korean and Vietcong guerrillas that they earned the nickname "Ghost-Catching Marines." One example in Korea is that a squad of ROK Marines had almost decimated an entire North Korean ''battalion''. In Vietnam, the Vietcong and the NVA dreaded fighting Korean Marines; one battle involved 300 South Koreans successfully fending off an entire North Vietnamese brigade with minimal casualties. They were famous for their special style of combat, and ROK commandos sometimes killed Vietcong with karate chops in close-up fights. By comparison, American soldiers in Vietnam had a lower kill ratio than the Koreans, serving only to further their reputation as badasses around the world.

* Featured prominently in the KoreanWar film ''Taegukgi''.

* Also features prominently in the KoreanWar film ''Taegukgi''.
* The DaleBrown novel ''Battle Born'', involving a Second Korean War.
* Play a large role in the Larry Bond novel ''Red Phoenix'', where an ROK liaison officer is one of the two survivors of one of the opening attacks in a Second Korean War.

* Korean soldiers are the main characters in two Korean horror movies directed by Kong Su-Chang. R-Point, set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and The Guard Post, set on the DMZ in modern day Korea. The Other Wiki has detailed synopses of both.

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces was founded in 1948 in response to North Korean attacks leading to the KoreanWar. Most of the army at that time was more like a gendarmerie than a full army; when the North rolled its troops across the South, they curbstomped South Korea, until the United States decided to step in (and for a while afterward); the ROKAF later TookALevelInBadass, but a [[{{ChineseWithChopperSupport}} Chinese]] [[strike:mercenary]] voluntary army was sent by Mao Zedong, partly to help Kim Il-sung and partly because Mao feared China would be attacked by the U.S. via Manchuria; a grinding war ensued until 1953, ending with Korea still being divided into two.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the US military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This difference is rendered irrelevant by the nature of South Korea's defense needs: the US has a combatant command for each theater of operations plus one each for special forces, nuclear weapons, and logistics. However, South Korea only has one theater of operations to speak of, has no nukes, and its special forces and logistics needs don't require a top-level command, so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is basically the commander for the country's lone combatant command. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military.

{{Eagle Squadron}}, except that they serve with [[YankswithTanks US Forces]] in South Korea. Young Korean men have to pass English proficiency tests then are selected by lottery for training. After training, they serve with US units in Korea. Many families would like to see their sons enter the KATUSA program because of the ROK Army and Marines {{training from hell}}/{{Spartan Way}}. KATUSA soldiers do enjoy their time with US units. However if they fail a PT test or violate US and ROK military regulations they get [[OhCrap sent back]] to a ROK Army unit.

South Korea is a key ally of the United States; it is said that losing South Korea (to North Korea or China) will be disastrous for Asia, and Japan is having doubts about America's ability to protect the region and is considering wheter it should make its own KaijuDefenseForce as badass as shown in anime. Japan's concerns have been curbed somewhat by a new American foreign policy emphasizing focus on East Asia and the Pacific.

* Every so often, ROK military personnel show up in, well, ''{{MASH}}''.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the US military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This is difference is rendered irrelevant by the nature of South Korea's defense needs: the US has a combatant command for each theater of operations plus one each for special forces, nuclear weapons, and logistics. However, South Korea only has one theater of operations to speak of, has no nukes, and its special forces and logistics needs don't require a top-level command, so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is basically the commander for the country's lone combatant command. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the US military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This is justified by the nature of South Korea's defense needs--there's only one theater of operations to speak of, really. Also borrowed from the YanksWithTanks is the presence of a quasi-independent Marine Corps theoretically subordinate to the Navy but really an elite combined-arms fourth branch of the military.

Conscription is mandatory for males 18 and above for at least two years. It is regarded as a SeriousBusiness for South Koreans, actors and entertainers included, to perform the service, and DodgingTheDraft is a serious offense and can cause anyone to be imprisoned for a time.

The South Korean government can fine and imprison any able-bodied men who shirk conscription; the service is usually 26 to 32 months. Women can join voluntarily.

South Korea is a key ally of the United States; it is said that losing South Korea (to North Korea or China) will be disastrous for Asia, and Japan is having doubts about America's ability to protect the region and is considering wheter it should make its own KaijuDefenseForce as badass as shown in anime.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the way the US military worked between the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_of_1947 National Security Act of 1947]] and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldwater%E2%80%93Nichols_Act Goldwater-Nichols Act]] of 1986; this means that while the chain of command runs from the President through the Minister of National Defense, advised by career military Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Chiefs are also in the operational chain of command of their respective branches, rather than serving as advisors with command running directly from the civilian officials to combatant commands. This is justified by the nature of South Korea's defense needs--there's only one theater of operations to speak of, really.

The South Korean Armed Forces is modeled after the United States military. It has a Joint Chiefs of Staff; however, unlike his U.S. counterpart, the Chairman of the JCS can order all branches of the military.

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces was founded in 1948 in response to North Korean attacks leading to the KoreanWar. Most of the army at that time was more like a gendarmerie than a full army; when the North rolled its troops across the South, they curbstomped South Korea, until the United States decided to step in; the ROKAF later TookALevelInBadass, but a [[{{ChineseWithChopperSupport}} Chinese]] [[strike:mercenary]] voluntary army was sent by Mao Zedong, partly to help Kim Il-sung and partly because Mao feared China would be attacked by the U.S. via Manchuria; a grinding war ensued until 1953, ending with Korea being divided into two.

{{Eagle Squadron}}, execpt that they serve with [[YankswithTanks US Forces]] in South Korea. Young Korean men have to pass English proficiency tests then are selected by lottery for training. After training, they serve with US units in Korea. Many families would like to see their sons enter the KATUSA program because of the ROK Army and Marines {{training from hell}}/{{Spartan Way}}. KATUSA soldiers do enjoy their time with US units. However if they fail a PT test or violate US and ROK military regulations they get [[OhCrap sent back]] to a ROK Army unit.

The ROKA currently fields the K1 tank, which is as good as the M1 Abrams tank according to its creators, and the K200 and K21 series armored personnel carriers.

The South Korean government can fine and put to jail any able-bodied men who shirk conscription; the service is usually 26 to 32 months. Women can join voluntarily.

The TropeNamer, the ROKMAR, although theoretically under the direction of the Chief of Naval Operations, operates as a distinct arm of the military of South Korea. It has a {{Badass}} reputation; during the [[KoreanWar Korean]] and [[VietnamWar Vietnam]] Wars, they were so successful in fishing out North Korean and Vietcong guerrillas that they earned the nickname "Ghost-Catching Marines." One example in Korea is that a squad of ROK Marines had almost decimated an entire North Korean ''battalion''. In Vietnam, the Vietcong and the NVA dreaded fighting Korean Marines; one battle involved 300 South Koreans successfully fending off an entire North Vietnamese brigade with minimal casualties. By comparison, American soldiers in Vietnam had a lower kill ratio in general than the Koreans, serving only to further their reputation as badasses around the world. That's why South Korea sometimes regrets that it had to pull out of South Vietnam, because it reflects upon their own country.

The ROK Air Force is the air arm of the Korean armed forces. It has 600 American-designed planes, most of them F-4 Phantom IIs, F-5 Tiger IIs, and F-16 Fighting Falcons, but it is currently including the F-15E Strike Eagle and the T-50 Golden Eagle (unrelated to the former) trainer/attack fighter. The ROK Air Force wants to have JDAM bombs and attack drones so that their aircraft have better MacrossMissileMassacre ability.

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