- Richard Fontaine and Michael Auslin on future of US Asia policy
From Matthew Pennington, AP: “China is concerned that THAAD has powerful radar that could track Chinese missiles and weaken its deterrence against the United States. Beijing said Tuesday it will take "necessary measures" to protect itself and warning that the U.S. and South Korea should be prepared to bear the consequences.”
CHINA: China Reorients Strategic Military Intelligence
From Peter Mattis, IHS Jane's: “On 26 November 2015, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced the first significant revision of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) since its reorganisation during the 1950s, when the PLA transformed from an army fighting a civil war to one capable of protecting a nation-state. The reforms removed the Soviet-inspired system of general departments, established a new division of labour, and realigned the PLA organisationally to better fulfil the Military Strategic Guidelines that
state the goal of "winning informationised local wars."”
China warned Tuesday of “consequences” for South Korea over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system, raising regional tension and questions about China’s commitment to free, open trade. – Washington Post
South Korea’s embattled president colluded with a confidante to extract $37 million from Samsung in return for granting favorable treatment to the corporate behemoth, special prosecutors asserted Monday after a 75-day investigation of the corruption scandal that has been roiling the country. – Washington Post
South Korea will consider filing a complaint against China to the World Trade Organization over what it described as trade retaliation for the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system outside of Seoul, the ruling party said on Tuesday. - Reuters
North Korea warned Monday that U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which it called "the most undisguised nuclear war maneuvers," are driving the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia toward "nuclear disaster." – Associated Press
Editorial: Inducing Pyongyang’s elites to defect isn’t easy, not least because Kim Jong Un punishes family members left behind. But Seoul’s move shows welcome recognition that the key to stopping the North Korean regime is to hasten its collapse. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)