K9 Self-Propelled Howitzer to Be Adopted by U.S. Military... Will it Become a Global Standard?

South Korea's K9 self-propelled howitzer derivative, the 'K9 MH,' has been finally selected for the U.S. Army's wheeled self-propelled howitzer procurement program. This model is drawing attention for demonstrating superior price competitiveness and performance compared to existing global defense companies' products.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young stated, "In fact, the K9 MH is not used by our military, and although it is a derivative of the K9 self-propelled howitzer, as far as I know, it is the second successful overseas case of an export model after the Redback armored vehicle we sold to Australia."

The U.S. military will receive six K9 MH units for initial delivery, with plans to introduce an additional 12 units. However, formal adoption requires approximately four years of rigorous testing and manual preparation.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young explained, "To officially adopt it, a doctrine must be created. That is, a manual must be made. The U.S. military, in particular, takes ample time to do this," emphasizing the U.S. military's cautious adoption process.

The U.S. military's adoption of the K9 self-propelled howitzer carries symbolic significance beyond mere export success, greatly enhancing the global standing of South Korea's defense industry. The K9 already holds the title of the world's best tracked self-propelled howitzer, and its adoption by the U.S. military significantly increases its potential to become a global standard equipment.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young said, "This is a global standard wheeled self-propelled howitzer. And secondly, the K9 MH will probably not be manufactured in Korea." This is an important example showing how South Korea, which once received aid from the U.S. military, has transformed into a nation that exports state-of-the-art weapons. In the future, the K9 MH is expected to meet U.S. military demand through overseas local production rather than domestic manufacturing.

Concerns are being raised about procedural issues in the process of reducing the ROK-U.S. combined exercises. Military commentator Kim Dae-young remarked, "From what I've seen this time, the optics are very bad. Wasn't this done unilaterally?" emphasizing the inappropriateness of the unilateral announcement method.

This suggests a lack of close consultation between allied nations and raises concerns that it could send the wrong message to neighboring countries such as North Korea, China, and Russia. Combined exercises are an important means of demonstrating alliance solidarity, making transparency and consultation crucial in the decision-making process for their reduction.

An analysis suggests that if the U.S. redeploys non-strategic nuclear weapons, it is more likely to consider deploying them on submarines or naval vessels rather than on land. Military commentator Kim Dae-young stated, "It is highly likely that they will go in the direction of deploying them on submarines or naval vessels in the sea."

This implies that the role of nuclear weapons could expand to compensate for the U.S.'s conventional force shortcomings. Furthermore, South Korea faces relatively fewer restrictions compared to Japan regarding the redeployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

With the U.S. Navy facing limitations in its warship construction and maintenance capabilities, there are signs of moves to leverage the construction capabilities of the South Korean shipbuilding industry. Internal solutions are difficult due to a lack of shipyard infrastructure in the U.S. and opposition from Congress over job concerns.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young explained, "It seems to be a move to effectively utilize the construction capabilities of the Korean shipbuilding industry to solve the shortage of U.S. domestic shipbuilding infrastructure and workforce." This could present a significant opportunity for the Hanwha Group (Philly Shipyard), which recently acquired a U.S. shipyard, to secure U.S. Navy warship orders.

The U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has identified South Korea's Dosan Ahn Changho-ham as an allied force to be deployed at a key chokepoint for Chinese aircraft carriers, as the importance of allied submarine capabilities grows due to the reduction in available U.S. Navy warships.

The host explained, "CSIS identified the Dosan Ahn Changho-ham as an allied force to be deployed at the chokepoint for Chinese aircraft carriers." This suggests that the Dosan Ahn Changho-ham is expected to play a crucial role in countering Chinese aircraft carriers from its Yellow Sea base and demonstrates its globally recognized performance as a standard submarine.

The K9 self-propelled howitzer has demonstrated excellent export competitiveness by meeting all of the Australian Army's stringent adoption criteria. Learning from the lessons of the war in Ukraine, the Australian Army recognized the limited survivability of towed artillery and chose the K9 self-propelled howitzer, which offers superior protection, mobility, and long range.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young emphasized, "From the Australian Army's perspective, they are one of the most demanding customers. Their adoption criteria and evaluations are very high. But the K9 satisfied all of them." This case demonstrates that the K9 self-propelled howitzer possesses world-class performance and reliability in the global market.

An analysis suggests that the Trump administration's excessive Middle East policy, particularly its conflict with Iran, complicated the U.S.'s strategy towards China. Military commentator Kim Dae-young pointed out, "It seems President Trump was too ambitious. He should have stopped at arresting Maduro in Venezuela, but the Iran war messed everything up."

After the arrest of Maduro in Venezuela, military operations in the Middle East became a bad move, making it difficult to find a military breakthrough without Iran's surrender before the midterm elections. As a result, the U.S. is struggling to pursue its strategy towards China and finds itself in a situation where it must rely more on its relationship with China.

A counterargument has been raised regarding the rumor that Saudi Arabia will prematurely adopt South Korea's Cheongung-II missile. Military commentator Kim Dae-young argued, "From what I've seen, it's more likely to be something else than an early adoption of Cheongung-II. It's more likely to be L-SAM."

The L-SAM, which the South Korean military is preparing for deployment next year, has high export potential and is analyzed to be related to the recent meeting between the Saudi Deputy Defense Minister and South Korea. The perspective is that Saudi Arabia is more likely to be interested in the more advanced L-SAM than Cheongung-II.

A projection suggests that North Korea could deploy up to 50,000 troops to the war in Ukraine. Military commentator Kim Dae-young explained, "Kim Jong Un's deployment of troops to the Ukraine war is achieving similar results to our deployment in the Vietnam War."

This indicates that North Korea has strategic objectives similar to its Vietnam War deployment. North Korea is analyzed to be seeking to secure external economic support, promote domestic economic growth, and bring about changes in Pyongyang through its deployment to the Ukraine war.

The Russian military is reportedly experiencing severe fuel shortages, to the extent of importing diesel and jet fuel from South Korea. This situation is largely due to Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young stated, "When desperate, Russia, which has oil refineries, is importing diesel and jet fuel from our country; that's how serious the situation has become." Diesel is a crucial element for military operations, such as tanks, and these fuel shortages are significantly impacting Russian civilian life.

Taiwan is intensifying its Han Kuang exercises and introducing practical scenarios in preparation for potential Chinese invasion. The daily large-scale presence of Chinese military forces around Taiwan has heightened concerns about the outbreak of war.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young explained, "If you look closely recently, Chinese military forces appear in large numbers around Taiwan almost every day. So people are worried, 'Could there be a war?'" Furthermore, with the U.S. suffering from shortages of THAAD and Patriot missile stockpiles, Taiwan's security anxieties are increasing.

The Taiwanese military is changing its training methods, moving away from ceremonial exercises towards more practical, real-world drills. This year, the ceremonial exercises attended by the Taiwanese president have been abolished, and training now includes not only preventing Chinese landing operations but also simulating engagement scenarios after a landing.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young stated, "This year, there are no (presidential attendance) drills. They're saying they won't do show-off drills anymore. And whereas before the goal was to prevent Chinese landing operations, now they are conducting many drills that also consider post-landing situations. They've even simulated situations where communication networks are cut off and internet speeds are reduced." By including communication outages and internet speed reductions in their training, they are preparing for actual battlefield conditions.

Since Xi Jinping came to power, the Chinese government has intensified its control over language and education in minority regions such as Hong Kong. In particular, in Hong Kong and Macau, local language education, such as Cantonese, has been minimized in elementary school curricula.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young explained, "One of the tasks China undertook after taking over Hong Kong and Macau was to minimize local languages like Cantonese in elementary school curricula. As you can see, young people in their twenties in Hong Kong and Macau speak standard Mandarin very well now. In contrast, their parents' generation does not." This policy has increased the Mandarin proficiency of Hong Kong's youth but has also deepened the linguistic disconnect with previous generations.

The Chinese government's disaster response reporting stance has significantly changed. In the past, it emphasized the government's active efforts to mitigate damage, but now it has shifted to concealing accident information and increasing SNS censorship.

Military commentator Kim Dae-young stated, "These days, the approach to disaster-related reporting has changed a lot. In the past, it was about the party and government working hard to prevent and minimize harm to the people, but now it's about not showing anything. It's changed a lot in that way. Even if something is uploaded to an SNS platform, if it's deemed abnormal, it's immediately taken down; it's become very strict." This appears to be intended to prevent the exposure of accident causes (such as shoddy construction) in building collapses and to immediately delete negative public opinion on social media.