🇨🇳🇰🇷 Chinese Navy brings recon ships close to U.S. bases in Korea

Chinese naval vessels equipped with surveillance systems have repeatedly entered waters near a major U.S. air base in Korea, raising alarms in Seoul about Beijing’s expanding military reach in the region.

Military officials warn that the frequency and proximity of these incursions suggest more than routine navigation. Some suspect that Beijing is collecting intelligence on U.S. forces stationed in Korea — particularly units expected to deploy first in the event of a Taiwan contingency.

60 kilometers off Eocheong

Chinese naval ships entered Korean-controlled waters in the Yellow Sea approximately 170 times between January and May of this year, according to data provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to Rep. Kang Dae-sik of the People Power Party(PPP) on Tuesday.

On several occasions, these vessels approached within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of the territorial waters west of Eocheong Island.

Eocheong Island is located about 60 kilometers from the U.S. 8th Fighter Wing at Gunsan Air Base. Given that territorial waters extend 22 kilometers (12 nautical miles) from shore, the Chinese warships effectively operated within 142 kilometers of the U.S. base.

While the JCS has not publicly disclosed the precise boundaries of its maritime jurisdiction for security reasons, much of the activity occurred in the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) — a buffer area established under a 2001 Korea-China fisheries agreement where territorial claims remain unresolved.

Surveillance capabilities confirmed

This marks the first time the Korean military has officially confirmed that Chinese vessels operating in these waters were equipped with sea surveillance radars and other reconnaissance technology.

“The presence of these sensor-equipped ships suggests that China is likely engaged in some level of intelligence-gathering,” a Ministry of National Defense official said.

The vessels' surveillance range can span hundreds of kilometers, which could theoretically allow them to monitor U.S. military operations at the Gunsan base.

That includes tracking aircraft departures, signal transmissions and electronic communications — a potential threat to operational security, especially in the event of a regional conflict involving Taiwan.

China’s incursions are not new. From 2018 to 2022, its naval vessels entered Korean waters between 220 and 290 times per year. The number rose to about 360 in 2023 and hovered around 330 last year.

In some cases, ships moved even closer — coming within 40 kilometers west of Eocheong Island in 2022, and about 50 kilometers southwest and west of the island in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Taken together, Chinese ships have routinely operated in waters roughly 100 kilometers from the U.S. base in Gunsan over the past several years.

Chinese warships have also been spotted near the Heuksan, Hong and Gyeongnyeolbi Islands — strategic points located 50 to 90 kilometers off the southwestern coast.

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-06-18/national/defense/Maritime-incursions-by-Chinese-Navy-bring-recon-ships-close-to-US-bases-in-Korea/2332864

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 Trump is increasingly considering targeting Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. A source familiar with the intelligence told ABC News there is “movement to get ready for this.”

📝: If Trump backs down now, he will be eaten alive by the Zionists in the Republican Party and will be left without support. The U.S. economy is not getting better and the only thing which might save the Republicans at the Midterms is a potential "victory" in a war with the Iranians.

It is only a matter of time until the U.S. strikes Iran and it will not be limited at just the facilities in Natanz and Fordow.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 Trump questioned his military advisers about whether the massive bunker busters could destroy Fordow.

Pentagon officials expressed confidence in their effectiveness, but a U.S. source says Trump remained uncertain — Axios.

@CIG_telegram

🇬🇧🚨🇨🇾 The British military is on high alert over threats to its forces in the region. Fourteen Typhoon jets stationed in Cyprus are tasked with protecting British personnel, The Times reports.

@CIG_telegram

😀💬🔫🇺🇸💥🇮🇷 — 📰 Financial Times | Starmer puts UK cabinet on alert for potential US attack on Iran | Prime minister holds emergency meeting involving senior ministers and military chiefs | June 18, 2025:

"Sir Keir Starmer has put his cabinet on alert for a possible US attack on Iran, just 24 hours after insisting Donald Trump had given no indication he was about to “get involved in this conflict”.

British officials said the situation was “grave and volatile”, while the prime minister’s team discussed whether the president might seek to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities from the joint US-UK air base at Diego Garcia.

Britain has so far stayed out of the Israel-Iran war and is determined not to do anything that could lead to the closure of its embassy in Tehran, a key western diplomatic post in the Middle East."

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🇮🇱❌🇮🇷❗️ — IDF orders evacuation of Arak nuclear power plant and its surroundings in Iran ahead of upcoming wave aiming to destroy it!

🔴 Urgent warning to employees and all persons located in the red area of ​​the map within the cities of Arak and Khandab

🔴 The Israeli army, as it has been attacking the Iranian regime's military infrastructure throughout Iran in recent days, is operating in this area.

🔴 Dear citizens, for your safety and health, we ask you to leave the designated area on the map within the cities of Arak and Khandab as soon as possible.

🔴 Your presence in this area endangers your lives.

➡️ However, given the entire internet blackout in Iran imposed by the Islamic Republic it is expected that very few people will see such thing

🔗 ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi)

🇺🇸📞🇬🇧 — Sky News & CNN reports US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the UK Foreign Secretary will meet tomorrow at 2 PM at the White House

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷❗️ — Bloomberg says Senior US officials are preparing for the possibility of a strike on Iran in the coming days, with leaders at a handful of federal agencies getting ready for an attack, according to people familiar with the matter

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-19/us-officials-prepare-for-strike-on-iran-in-the-coming-days

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🇮🇱❌🇮🇷❗️ — Local Iranian netizens report that Israeli Air Force conducted a wave of Airstrikes against Arak Nuclear Power Plant!

https://news.1rj.ru/str/iliaen/1341

⚠️🇷🇺🇷🇺⚡️In Tatarstan there may be interruptions in the operation of mobile Internet.

The region has introduced the "Unmanned Danger" regime, the authorities reported. They specified that the inconvenience due to the decrease in Internet speed is temporary.

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🇮🇷❌🇮🇱❗️ — Video shows the aftermath of a Iranian missile directly hit against Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, Negev Desert, Southern Israel

🔗 GeoInsider (@InsiderGeo)

🇮🇷❌🇮🇱 — The entry to Soroka Hospital, in Negev Desert, after a Iranian missile arrival against the medical facility

It is notoriously damaged, with glass and rubble over the floor

🇮🇷❌🇮🇱 — Damage seen to several high-rise buildings in Central Tel-Aviv as a result of an impact from an Iranian ballistic missile in the area

🇮🇷❌🇮🇱 — A Building in Central Tel Aviv is seen collapsing following an missile arrival on the city's center

As some suggested, this missile might have had a 2,000 kg warhead

🇮🇷❌🇮🇱 — An Iranian ballistic missile aimed at Haifa port ended impacting... on Mediterranean sea.