With the launch of Korea’s LPX-class amphibious warfare ship “Dokdo,” it seems the Japanese are a bit miffed by the name given the good ship:
“It is truly regrettable that the name was used on the vessel despite repeated requests by the Japanese government not to do so,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters Wednesday.
“I expect the (Foreign) ministry to protest strongly once again.”
OK, as I’ve made clear several times on this blog, I’m no fan of the way Korea has handled the Dokdo affair, but bitch about the name of a ship? If I were Korean, I’d have only two words to say — bite… me.
At this rate, Tokyo should consider itself lucky they didn’t name it the “Daemado.”
Having said that, from the standpoint of this non-military professional, the ship’s capabilities seem impressive (and it looks cool, which is always the most important thing when warships are concerned), and may be of tremendous help if Korea really does get into the whole peacekeeping thing. What’s cute is that while military officials say its not an aircraft carrier:
Semi-aircraft carrier?
If it is equipped with a ski jump board module, 15-17 meters in length, and its flight deck is coated with special Urethane to resist heat generated from short-range and vertical landing/take-off. The Dokdo can also accommodate Harrier, F-35B aircraft, etc. For this reason, For these reasons, it is also called “a semi-aircraft carrier.” However, military authorities have made it clear that they have no plan to convert the LPX into a semi-aircraft carrier.
Looks like a nice acquisition to me.
36 Comments
From the photo, it’s not big enough to carry a militarily significant quantity of VTOL aircraft, especially if it’s carrying the full quantity of helicopters and troops.
Aircraft carriers require an enormous quantity of space below decks for all the functions associated with fueling/arming/maintaining modern high performance jet aircraft. It’s for this reason that the two functions:
a) amphibious air/sea landing of troops, and
b) launching of high-performance fighter/ bomber/ surveillance aircraft
are separated into two different ship types. I can think of only a couple rare exceptional examples, and both were extemporaneous situations to meet exceptional circumstances.
I don’t think ROK is looking to undertake amphibious operations far from their own shores independently; they’ve no reason to spend scarce resources to pay for a capability they don’t need.
The naming of the ship I see as another example of trying to “impress” their Northern cousins by sticking a thumb in the eye of their supposed mutual former colonial overlord. Otherwise why not name the vessel for one of the ROK sailors killed in the shootout between the ROK/DPRK patrol boats a couple years ago (you know, the one where Condoleeza Rice knew the names of the dead ROK sailors involved and the ROK government official didn’t?)
I wonder if anyone at a high level of the current ROK administration thought of naming the vessel in this way. Had such a thing happened, one can just imagine the sudden intakes of breath, and the nervous shifting in the chairs, at the conference table…
Or name it for one of the two Korean schoolgirls! Now that would really be “not kowtowing” to the Americans…
Japan complains as a matter of course whenever Korea does anything in relation to Takeshima. A lack of protest would make it seem like there was no dispute, weakening Japanese claims of sovereignty.
Imagine that a foreign country has named a warship ‘New York’ while at the same time claiming that NY was their sovereign territory. Giving the warship such a name could only be interpreted as a threatening gesture.
This must be one of those fake news stories we’ve been hearing about lately, because it was made clear that only the Koreans get all undone about the Tokto/Takeshima issue.
Yes, the stupidity never stops. Who runs the military (and the country)? A bunch of kids? Sure, there is lots of history behind all this crap, but as a foreigner, I find the whole Dokto issue very tiresome, because of the immature reactions by governments and other people who should know better.
They should have named the ship “Takeshima”.
Oh yeah, and it’s also real mature of Japan to protest what the ROK names one of their ships. Who the F* cares.
Well, in all fairness, Kimbob, the two countries have been complaining about each other’s stamps and administrative plans regarding the islets. It’s not like Japan took things a step further or anything. Had Shakuhachi not said it, I might have pointed out what he did, that the Japanese government really has no choice but to protest this if they are to maintain their claim.
Kushibo, of course. I also was sort of replying to shakuhachi indirectly (yanking his chain maybe?) because obviously he doesn’t see the same sillyness when it comes to viewing it from his anti-Korean Japanese side.
What is the normal procedure for naming Korean military seacraft? Do they name them after islands? Do they name them after disputed territories (Parhae, Taemado, Tokto, Kando, etc.)?
I don’t know. Is there have to be a procedure for naming ships? I know there’s one battle ship named “Yi Soon Shin”. Maybe people will complain that name as anti-Japanese as well. I don’t know.
Noone told us anything about paying for ICBM research…
“Good Lord man! The Soviets are about to take over Kansas! We need more ICBMs! Raise the taxes!”
This move just makes Korea look like a silly child. Although both sides have seemed pretty childish throughout the dispute.
I’m wondering, how much attention has the Dokdo affair received in the Japanese media? Has the public over there also gotten emotionaly wrapped-up over these rocks? Or do they just not care?
I think Paul H., as the american idioms goes, put the hammer to the nail and such construction analogies.
This ship simultaneously says, “Your puny and pathetic DPRK navy is no match for our glorious ROK navy. But this could also be YOUR ship that kicks Japan’s ass! Our form of government is the legitimate inheritor of Lee Soon Shin’s spirit.”
I mean, ROK government used to say stuff like, “Good Lord man! Kim Il Sung is about to attack again! We need new guns, planes, tanks! Raise the taxes!”
Now they say, “Good Lord man! Japanese Aegis cruisers are about to take over Dokdo! We need more KDX-III! Raise the taxes!”
So on and so forth.
The US government spent billions and billions dollars putting a flag on the moon saying stuff like, “we are going to spend billions and billions dollars of your tax dollars not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard!!” (to be fair, it’s probably easy to spend tax dollars) And we were swooneed to pay our taxes. Noone told us anything about paying for ICBM research…
Heh, I’d like take this opportunity to talk about what I observed on Korean Air.
I noticed they actually map Dokdo on the flight from Tokyo to Seoul - you know, those navigation maps they show you to see how far you are from your destination. Yeah, they had “Dokdo” right in the middle of the “East Sea”. I kind of laughed to myself when I saw it…as if Dokdo were a significant geographic location. Well, it is to Koreans, I guess.
I didn’t notice this a couple of weeks before from L.A. to Seoul. Could they have delibirately showed it on a Tokyo-Seoul flight…? nahhhh…
Just an observation…
The US had operational ICBM’s long before Kennedy articulated the moon as a goal of the US manned space program.
The large Saturn V booster rockets, needed for the large payloads of the Apollo missions, went far beyond the much smaller rockets needed to simply boost a relatively small nuclear warhead(s) on a ballistic trajectory above the earth’s atmosphere and back down again.
The real “kick in the pants” for US space program was the Soviet space program. The fear was that the USSR would be able to put nuclear weapons into a semi-permanent orbit around the earth (the so-called “fractional orbit bombardment system”). Fortunately, both powers saw that this was one form of MAD that was unnecessary, and such systems were eventually outlawed by treaty.
The key item of interest for you fellows in NE Asia is the purpose of the current PRC manned space program. I think the quiet bet among the military/ space analysts is that the Chinese are interested in successful earth orbit missions in order to achieve the capability to attack US satellites. Such satellites are the key to US military communiciations and also to the guidance of many US precision guided weapons sytems.
Naturally the prestige of having successful Chinese astronauts is important, but I don’t think this is their primary purpose in expending scarce resources on such an expensive project.
Luke
I?€™m wondering, how much attention has the Dokdo affair received in the Japanese media?
now almost none. biggest news about korea recently is ms.choi ji-u, an actress in the winter sonata, was hospitalized, and cancelled her trip to japan.
during mar-april, there were extensive media coverage on how koreans reacted the issue, like finger cutting, flag burning.
the interesting point i found is whenever the major media mentioned about “takeshima”, they always say “takeshima where both japan and korea are claiming its sovereignty…”.
Has the public over there also gotten emotionaly wrapped-up over these rocks?
no. except poor fishermen in shimane where is the 2nd poorest prefecture in japan.
Or do they just not care?
thanks for the fact-distoted history testbooks and education, most of japanese havenot noticed about takeshima unitil the issue flames up.
So the Japanese are whining about a ship’s name? Hey, Korea coulda named that warship “Suck My Wake, Japan”. Some folks need to grow some skin….JEEZ!
jenifer
as far as the media coverage concern, i dont see any big show so far, nor i know anyone burning the flag over this in front of the korean embassy.
I think Korea and Japan should be easing tensions the way China and Japan are right now.
Japanese don’t care this news because we could not understand what do koreans want to do with naming it.Only l can say is just,”Huh? So what’s up?”
AdmiralPepper, Japanese don’t care? You mean they pretend they don’t care. Read your own Cabinet Secretary (especially about the ‘repeated request’).
?€œIt is truly regrettable that the name was used on the vessel despite repeated requests by the Japanese government not to do so,?€? Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters Wednesday.
?€œI expect the (Foreign) ministry to protest strongly once again.?€?
kimbob
i really envy korean in that respect. the japanese “government” seems to care, but japanese in general respond, as admiral pepper said, so what? on the other hand, korea really shows solidarity from the president to junior highschool kids when it comes to dokdo. again, it is the biggest mistakes made by japanese educational system in my opinion.
oh my god. as a father of 13 y.o. girl, this(pics in #24) is truely disgusting. her parents should be deprived their parentage.
Martey Paul H.
Yea have humbled me. Kudos for excellent point and also for very informative commentary.
Mae,
Actually I disagree. I rather envy the Japanese in that respect. The Japanese public is much more “mature” as a society in denouncing fascism. Ask yourself, if the cost of Japanese public caring about dokdo (ha ha!) issues is a Japanese version of Hanchongryun, would you favor it? Lots of Korean “solidarity” stuff is just runaway fascism.
It’s sort of like getting nostalgic after watching Hanchongryun kids and saying, “we used to be that stupid too. Those were the good days.”
Unfortunately, the dokdo debate never ends… I believe that Dokdo is Korean, but I don’t like to call the ship “Dokdo.” It just doesn’t sound good…
virtual wonderer
actually my remark of “envy korean” is kind of mixture of true envy and sarcasm. on the dokdo/takshima issue itself i feel korean reaction is way too much emotional and childish. and if any korean makes some favorable comment for japanese, he/she would be immediately killed socially, just like dog-poo girl.
but indifference of majority of japanese on the issue of our sovereignty is also not healthy from my nationalistic point of view. while i highly value freedom of speech and having various opinions in the society, there should be a certain issue that majority, if not all, of the same national should share.
by the way, speaking of ms. choi ji-u, koizumi once invited her to his office on her previous visit, and it drew great (favorable) media attention. i wonder what would be the general public reaction if pres.roh invites one of japanese actresses in his office…
Mae,
You be surprised at what people say when they don’t have to worry about Hanchongryun persecution.
I guess in a country of 100+ million, there are bound to be a few moms and dads with all their screws loose.
There’s more than a few, I think. The comments here seem to treat this as an abberation, when it’s not. If you’ve ever spent any amount of time in Japanese bookstores you’ve probably come across entire walls of photobooks including everything from AV models to idols to girls even younger than 11. Hundreds of books. While I was surprised at first, after seeing them in a few bookstores the surprise wore off, especially when I realized it wasn’t just men, but women who were looking at them (’How cute!’).
So when I came across that story about the 11 yr old model a few days ago, I just thought ‘Yep, that’s Japan.’ A comment from the forum where I read the story said “if you think this is warped you haven’t seen the half of it. I’ve been in Japan for most of the last 3 weeks and you’ll find Saaya’s stuff in damn near every CD/DVD shop in Akihabara. And not tucked away in a back room behind a door with a sliding peephole. Right at the very front of the shop. With big pictures. She’s the latest craze it seems.”
I know that “cute” young girls are popular in some Japanese publications, but this is different in that it’s a girl marketed as a “cute” 11-year-old girl with huge breasts. As if she would not be drawing attention at all if she weren’t only eleven and if she didn’t have huge breasts.
I don’t hang around in Japanese bookstores, so I don’t know the answer: are there other real-live eleven-year-old girls (not cartoons) who are sexualized for marketing purposes and so widely accepted in this manner in Japan?
The thing is, many of the girls in those books i was describing weren’t just cute, they were often sexualized. These books usually had the girl’s ages on the slipcovers in large print, and I do remember thinking that a few that said ‘12′ looked much older (mainly because of their breast size). I’m obviously making an assumption, but when you go to a bookstore that has manga on the right, cookbooks in the center, and tons of these books on the left, they seem to be accepted. I thought of this post when reading your question, which I’ll quote a bit of here:
“Japan is a breast-loving country. Pretty much any girl who develops a decent set, her family may as well just pull her out of school because she’s got a career as an actress/model/porn star guaranteed. In fact, the only big-breasted girls I see are the ones on TV. It makes me think that Japan sends out scouts to scour the cities, plucking young ample-breasted maidens off the street and rushing them to Tokyo to wear bikins and bend-over a lot in front of cameras.”
Like I said, none of this was surprising to me. Disturbing, maybe, but not surprising.
Of course Japanese government have to protest against it again and again,as its sovereignty.
But, Japanese people dosen’t care about the name of a korean boat.
Stolen islands are the probrem.But such as ship’s name is a only boreful news.
Ship’s name would not be able to a proof of korean government’s opinion.
This case is only shows us that Korean-Government could not bring out the historical legitimacy about stealing the islands,I guess.
So,It’s just a boring news to me.
Oh yeah,in the korean logic says “Shout Loud makes it’s Right”,I know,
but it’s just noisy in my ear.n
AdmiralPepper….”stolen islands?” Let’s just call this what it is. Dokdo is a worthless piece of rock in the middle of the sea. This is Japan’s backdoor way of trying to lay claim to the fishing waters that surround the island.
Let’s say for the sake of argument that Korea “stole” Dokdo. Couldn’t we consider it a fraction of repayment for the brutal rape and torture that Japan inflicted upon Korea for decades?
I’d bet that if Japan would actually apoligize for the completely inhumane manner in which it treated Asia in the last century, Korea might not care so much about the island.
Korea will always hate Japan until Japan acknowledges the severity of the crimes that it comitted against the Korean people.
Korea will always hate Japan until Japan acknowledges the severity of the crimes that it comitted against the Korean people.
Korea will always hate Japan as long as Korean schools distort history and spread hate.
Actually shak you’re right, as people who distort history and spread hate disappear ON BOTH SIDES, things are going to definitely improve.
Why don’t we start by making YOU disappear?
C’mon we need yet another apology from Japan that can be again ignored. It’s been 17 or more so far, but that’s nothing cause none of them were ’sincere’. So how does one make the apologies sincere? By handing over billions of cash? Oops the Japanese already did that in the 60s and 70s to help Korea get off the ground economically. Transfer essential technology to help Korea become more advanced? Oops, Japan already did that. Well they might as well keep on apologizing until they hit 100. Or better yet, how about just ignore the idiocy and act rational, go about conducting business between nations rationally and seriously and let the manipulators look like the fools they are.