SADJ 7#3

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ROKMC dispatched a brigade to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. One might ask why South Korea needs an amphibious force, especially since the country’s military is geared almost totally to a conflagration with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), whose military looms threateningly across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). In fact, South Korea is a peninsula nation surrounded by sea on three sides and with a number of offshore islands. Thus, the possession of a Marine Corps makes a lot of sense. Marines are charged with conducting landing operations in conjunction with the ROK Navy, as well as conventional ground warfare, special warfare and facility protection. Indeed, the country must guard against DPRK intrusions that might include Special Forces infiltrating by small craft or mini-submarine. Today the ROK- MC poses a behind-the-lines threat to any DPRK act of aggression, since it could make an amphibious lodgement on either the west or east coast of North Korea. To guard the maritime approaches to the capital Seoul and nearby port of Incheon, Marines are also deployed on five islands to the west of the South Korean mainland, including Yeonpyeong Island that was shelled in 2010. The Marine Corps Command has an estimated 27,000 personnel. Of these, many are conscripts doing 24 months of compulsory military service. The corps comprises two divisions (1st and 2nd Marine Divisions), one brigade (6th Marine Brigade located in the northwest islands), and the Yeonpyeong unit. South Korean marines are acknowledged as being among the best there are, and even their U.S. counterparts speak glowingly of them as being “very tough.” After this brief introduction to the ROKMC, let us turn our attention to the service’s small arms. The following is not designed as an exclusive list, but it does highlight the weapons one would typically expect to see within the Republic of Korea Marine Corps. These small arms are almost exclusively manufactured in South Korea by S&T Motiv, a company belonging to the Daewoo group. The company was established in 1981 (then called Daewoo Precision Industries Co. Ltd.) specifically to build small arms for the country’s armed forces. The company adopted its current name in 2012. As well as having a captive domestic market, S&T Motiv has also achieved considerable weapon exports to a variety of nations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. K5 9MM PISTOL The K5 9mm semiautomatic pistol from S&T Motiv is routinely carried by officers as a sidearm. The weapon is also used by tank crewmen, with the ROKMC operating both K1 and M48 tank types. The recoil-operated K5 was introduced to the country’s military in 1989 after its development from 1984-88. A special aspect of the pistol is its triple-action trigger, which includes a ‘fast-action’ trigger mechanism. The latter permits the hammer to be decocked while the mainspring is still compressed. Thus, only a light trigger pull is needed to recock the hammer and fire the pistol in a conventional double-action mode. The advantage is that the first shot is more accurate because of the lighter trigger weight, plus it is safer because longer trigger travel is required to fire it. Alternatively, the hammer can be recocked manually to fire it in single-action mode. The K5’s magazine contains 13 9x19mm Parabellum rounds. The pistol weighs 728g (without a magazine) and its total length is 190mm. The manufacturer quotes its range as 50m. K1A 5.56MM SUBMACHINE GUN The K1A submachine gun has been around for a long time, and its use is widespread in the ROKMC as its compact proportions make it easier to manhandle within the confines of an amphibious assault vehicle, for example. The K1 was the first modern firearm developed by the 46 SADEFENSEJOURNAL.COM
Korea Marine Corps OPPOSITE PAGE TOP: View of the 5.56mm K1A submachine gun from the left-hand side. From observation of ROKMC units on exercise, the K1A is very widely used by infantry Marines. ABOVE: These marines armed with K1A submachine guns are part of a mortar team. They have dug their 81mm KM187 mortar into a shallow depression to give indirect fire support to a newly established beachhead. RIGHT: This 1st lieutenant of the ROKMC is aiming a K5 9mm pistol. Carriage of this weapon type befits someone of officer rank in the Marines. Note that the officer is wearing the latest digital-pattern uniform. SADEFENSEJOURNAL.COM 47
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME 7, NUMBER 1 DEFENSE VOLUME 7
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Page 9 and 10: COLUMNS 10 INDUSTRY NEWS JASON WONG
Page 11 and 12: NEW PRODUCTS VOL 7 NO 3 by CHRIS A.
Page 13 and 14: Newest SureFire Scout Light Provide
Page 15 and 16: Ross & Zheng Engineering Unveils Ne
Page 17 and 18: firearms, combined with the inabili
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Page 35 and 36: A Meopta MeoSight red dot was affix
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MACHINE GUN MEMORABILIA by ROBERT G
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