Free Republic

By Yi Whan-woo, Kim Yoo-chul As nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States remain in a stalemate after no "substantial outcome" from their recent encounter in Sweden, the lack of visible progress in the denuclearization dialogue is raising concerns that the North is "buying time" for its military and nuclear advancement. During an Asan Institute for Policy Studies security forum held in Seoul, Tuesday, Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Washington-based RAND Corporation, claimed that despite North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's promise to end his nuclear program, Pyongyang has not taken any meaningful measures toward this....

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Since the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, U.S. military bases have hosted gay marriage ceremonies and potluck gatherings. But on Saturday, servicemembers here may have been the first to take to the stage and perform as drag queens on a military installation in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops. Drag queens and drag kings, to be precise.

The U.S. Air Force is ready to respond immediately if hostilities between the two Koreas escalate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said Wednesday. Schwarz told reporters after North Korea's attack on Yeonpyeong Island, "The bottom line is that U.S. Forces Korea cetainly is monitoring the situation carefully." He mentioned Osan and Gunsan in South Korea, Kaneda in Okinawa, Japan, and other U.S. Air Force bases in the Pacific to emphasize that the U.S. has plenty of firepower in the region. Schwarz added USFK Commander Gen. Walter Sharp "has operational control of Air Force assets that reside on...

The U.S. Air Force is scheduled to deploy F-22A Raptors to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and Kadena Air Base, Japan, in late May for approximately four months. Twelve F-22As will deploy from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., to Andersen AFB and another 12 will deploy from Holloman AFB, N.M., to Kadena AB. Approximately 250 Airmen will accompany the Raptors to each location. The F-22A is a transformational combat aircraft that can avoid enemy detection, cruises at supersonic speeds, is highly maneuverable, and provides the joint forces an unprecedented level of integrated situational awareness. As part of continuing force posture adjustments...

Four F-22A stealth fighters have flown to the U.S. Air Force's Kadena Air Base in Okinawa from Guam, base officers said Friday. The fighters arrived at Kadena on Thursday from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. The officers did not say why the fighters have flown to Kadena, but said they will leave Okinawa within a week. The F-22A was developed jointly by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. It is a single-seat, twin-engine fighter designed to be difficult to detect by radar. The U.S. Air Force temporarily deployed F-22 fighters to Kadena base on three occasions between 2007 and...

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated Thursday his government will "comprehensively review" the Japan-U.S. alliance but added it will continue to deepen the bilateral ties in a "multilayered" way. "As I have repeatedly said, the Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy," Hatoyama said during a House of Councillors plenary session. But he said his government, which took power in mid-September, will comprehensively review the entire status of the alliance on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the revision of the bilateral security treaty next year. "Through the review and in a mid- to long-term perspective, we will...

The top commander of U.S. forces in Japan told Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Thursday it would be difficult to realize his suggested plan of transferring the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture to the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base, a Japanese government source said. SNIP Lt. Gen. Rice cited difficulties with the plan from Okada and Tokyo.

TOKYO — U.S. and Japanese officials have discussed the possibility of withdrawing U.S. fighter jets from Japan, U.S. military officials confirmed Monday. But officials from both countries declined to provide further details, saying the conversation was part of ongoing discussions between the two nations about a variety of issues. "At this point, there’s not much to say on it," said U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Maj. Joseph Macri. "It’s a discussion." Macri and David Marks, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, referred questions to the Pentagon. "We, the U.S. government, we talk to them on a wide variety of...

The Air Force hasn’t thought about air base defense for a while. Now, things are changing. For the first time in decades, Air Force aircraft deployed in an international crisis now face substantial risk of damage or destruction on the ground. By some estimates, missile and air attacks could disable up to 70 percent of the aircraft at some overseas bases in the opening minutes of a fight. The problem is not insurmountable; the Air Force and the Pentagon already have the means to start addressing this critical problem. Even so, there is no doubt the threat is growing. The...

Defense: By a narrow margin, a House subcommittee has voted to keep open the F-22 Raptor production line. The future of American air dominance and the fate of the world's most capable fighter hang in the balance.On May 30, with North Korea huffing and puffing about nuclear war, the first of 12 high-tech U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter jets landed at Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. It was just days after North Korea unnerved the region by detonating a nuclear device. There were reasons the F-22 was deployed to Japan. The stealthy, radar-evading fighter jet is...

HONOLULU (AP) _ The U-S military plans to send its most advanced fighter jet abroad for the first time. The Air Force will deploy 12 of the F-22 planes to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa next month. The planes will train with Japan's air force, U-S F-15's, and the U-S Navy while at Okinawa's Kadena Air Base.

Here is the link, this 300K Windows Media Player video stream from Japan should be up for 12 more hours or so: http://meta.cdn.yahoo-streaming.jp/cgi-bin/yahoo/news.asx?cid=20061005-00000040-nnn-soci-movie-000&media=wm300k