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Mike Drop

Ex–ROK Navy SEAL Ken Rhee Breaks Down the Reality of War with North Korea | Ep. 265 | Pt. 1

Mike Drop

Mike Ritland

Society & Culture, Personal Journals, Documentary, Politics, News

4.96.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of the Mike Drop podcast, host Mike Ritland sits down with Ken Rhee, a former Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy SEAL lieutenant who uniquely completed both Korean BUD/S and U.S. Navy SEAL training in Coronado. Raised in the U.S. from age three, Rhee returned to Korea driven by family patriotism, rising through Officer Candidate School to become a tier-one operator in the elite Special Mission Battalion (SMB). Rhee contrasts the brutal mental hazing of Korean SEAL training—complete with paddlings and concrete-head "thinking positions"—against the physical grind of U.S. BUD/S on Coronado's sandy beaches, while highlighting cultural clashes in discipline and confinement. He delves into ROK SEAL gear mirroring U.S. standards (HK416s, Glocks, Crye Precision kits), the ever-present North Korean threat with its massive artillery shadowing Seoul, and the high-tension skirmishes that nearly sparked war. This interview is a fascinating deep dive into cross-cultural special operations, North-South tensions, and the unyielding SEAL ethos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Most Koreans don't want a war with all Korea.

0:04.0

The reason being is because

0:06.0

with Korea, they have a lot of artillery aimed at Seoul

0:09.0

and Seoul is not very far from border.

0:14.0

They do their large parades

0:17.0

trying to showcase their weapons or their capabilities. If you sacrifice sold for a war, it's not worth it for most communities.

0:25.6

But you need to be ready if something does happen.

0:29.6

We had a few cases where we almost need to go to war,

0:34.6

which is why we do those military exercises with the U.S. every year.

0:39.3

A war between North Korea and South Korea isn't just those two countries fighting.

0:44.3

Implications are enormous for something like that happening.

0:47.3

Yeah.

0:48.3

Is that just constantly front of mind for your guys' training and your field training exercise or whatever,

0:55.7

is it pretty much all centered towards, you know, the opposition that North Korea presents?

1:02.9

Yes, primarily. So, uh...

1:09.0

I have four dogs and they've eaten all types of different food and we recently found team dog like, I believe this spring.

1:21.6

So we've been on it for a year. Seeger was on it first and Tiller was on it and then we put the

1:28.7

Golden's on it and I mean all the dogs eat less food the dogs coats are way

1:33.1

better. Everything about team dog is I mean I'm very impressed my dog trainer

1:39.4

Justin Allen he uses it on all like 60 dogs that are there for training he's tried every single food in the game too and

1:51.0

they just stay super healthy on this this team dog all right guys I just wrapped up a two and a half hour interview with Ken Rhee, who is a Republic of Korea or Rock Seal.

2:04.6

Spent most of his time growing up in the United States, but then went back to Korea to join the military, became a seal, a Tier 1 seal at that in Korea,

...

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