S. Korea Threatening to Cancel All Israeli Purchases

The purchase of the Israel Air Force's new training plane is causing serious diplomatic tension between Israel and South Korea: Fearing that Israel has already decided on a rival plane made in Italy, the Koreans are now threatening in return to cancel all their deals for purchasing Israeli defense systems.

In recent years, the South Koreans have purchased an average of $280 million a year in such defense products.         

The decision on the IAF's new trainer is supposed to be made within a few months, toward the end of this year or early in 2012. The deal includes over 20 planes and is worth $1 billion spread over a few years. The air force is considering two planes, the Italian M346 trainer and the South Korean T-50 jet. The force held test flights for both planes earlier this year.

The decision is to be based on criteria set by the IAF, but not exclusively: It seems the final decision will also be influenced significantly by Israel's relations with both countries.
Here the Italians have a major advantage: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is a staunch supporter of Israel and his relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are very close. In light of Israel's growing diplomatic isolation, the government sees great importance in preserving Israel's close relationship with Italy.

That is exactly what is worrying the South Koreans. Seoul fears that the competition for the new plane, which Israel has presented as a down-to-the-wire race, is actually a done deal that has already been decided in favor of the Italians.

FILE - Israel President Shimon Peres (L) talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (R) during their meeting at presidential house in Seoul, South Korea, 10 June 2010. EPA/

The matter was discussed this week at a relatively tense meeting between South Korea's ambassador to Israel and the director general of the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. (res. ) Udi Shani. Next week, the head of Korean defense procurement is expected to visit Israel to discuss the matter again. And now, the Koreans are threatening to cancel deals with Israeli defense industries.
         
In recent years, Korean purchases have increased greatly, including the Green Pine radar system manufactured by Elta and another radar system for combat planes. The Koreans have also shown interest in missile interception systems still under development, such as David's Sling, manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

The Defense Ministry said no decision has yet been made on the plane. "The ministry is examining both candidates to choose the best combat trainer for the air force," it added.

HA'ARETZ

Israel, World Champ in Milk Production, Helps Out S. Korea

Among its other achievements, Israel is the undisputed world leader in per capita milk production –meaning that Israeli cows produce more milk per cow than bovines anywhere else. By way of comparison, Israeli cows yield on average 12,000 liters of milk a year –compared to an average of 6,000 per year in the U.S. and the U.K., and between 3,000 and 4,000 in India and China. As a result, representatives of countries around the world flock to Israel for help in improving their dairy output –with Israel happily helping out and improving its relationship with a host of nations, engaging in what could be called "dairy diplomacy."


One country which has turned to Israel for help is South Korea, where the dairy industry has been virtually wiped out over the past year, thanks to an epidemic foot and mouth disease. Hundreds of thousands of cows, along with pigs, goats, and and deer, were culled over the past year, including over 50,000 milk cows. Milk from infected cows was destroyed, and by the time it was over, over three million animals had been destroyed.

Russia, Two Koreas Renew Talks on Shared Gas Pipeline

Talk of building a pipeline that would deliver Russian natural gas to South Korea by way of North Korea has been going on for decades.

But the project recently gained new momentum when North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il paid Russian President Dmitry Medvedev a visit in Siberia.

Footage aired on Russian television shows the two leaders shaking hands ahead of their summit last month. Reports say both men agreed that construction of a gas pipeline should finally be realized.

Following that meeting, officials in South Korea’s energy sector made it clear that they too want to see the pipeline finally built.

The Dilemma America Faces When Allies Fight: Turkey vs. Israel & Japan vs. South Korea

Relations between Turkey and Israel grow more tense and ugly by the day. There is even growing speculation that the two countries might come to blows. Ankara’s pledge to provide naval escorts for future humanitarian relief flotillas headed for Gaza certainly has the potential to trigger such a conflict.

If that scenario took place, it would put the United States in a horrific dilemma. Although there is no legal obligation to defend Israel, that country has long been Washington’s favorite partner in the region, and it exerts a powerful emotional hold on major portions of the American population. Yet Turkey is a fellow member of NATO, and the United States has an explicit treaty obligation to assist that country if it is attacked.

If fighting erupted between Israeli and Turkish forces and Ankara invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which proclaims that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, Washington would face a nightmare scenario. U.S. leaders would then have to decide if Turkey was the victim of aggression or had provoked an attack. The likelihood is that if forced to choose between Israel and Turkey, Washington would find that Turkey was at fault. Regarding Israel as an aggressor whose conduct mandated a U.S. military response is utterly unthinkable, especially given the firestorm such a decision would create at home.

But if the United States reneged on its Article 5 commitment, Turkey would almost certainly withdraw from NATO, and relations between Washington and Ankara would plunge into the deep freeze. Other alliance members would certainly wonder about the reliability of their security commitment under Article 5. In short, the episode could well be the death blow for NATO.

The possibility of an armed clash between Israel and Turkey is not the only instance in which Washington has reason to worry. Throughout the Cold War, U.S. officials worried repeatedly that war might break out between NATO members (and long-time adversaries) Greece and Turkey. That risk reached an extremely dangerous level in 1974 when Turkey invaded Cyprus and expelled the Greek Cypriot population from the northern portion of the island. Although tensions between Athens and Ankara have receded somewhat in the past few years, the possibility of a clash has not disappeared.


On the other side of the world, Japan and South Korea have frequently been at odds—especially regarding a territorial dispute over some small islands (known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan) in the East China Sea. There have been several instances of naval deployments by both countries that could easily have gotten out of hand.