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The US military commitment to the Pacific was underlined in a White House meeting between the leaders of the US and Japan. But behind the scenes, this renewed focus on Asia has sparked a fierce debate within one of its most fabled military forces, writes defense analyst Jonathan Marcus.

A bitter family row has erupted in one of the US military’s most hallowed institutions, the US Marine Corps.

A host of its former senior commanders are lining up to attack the current leadership over plans for its reinvention.

At issue is a plan to adapt the service for a potential conflict against China – a plan dubbed Force Design 2030. Almost from its inception, this plan has been under attack with a cohort of retired generals taking the unusual approach of going to the press to air their frustrations.

Retired senior officers have been meeting regularly; speaking at seminars and think tanks; and devising their own alternatives to a plan which they see as a disaster for the Marine Corps future. 

One prominent critic is the former US Navy Secretary and former Senator for Virginia, Jim Webb, who served as a Marine officer in the Vietnam War and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2015.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he described Force Design 2030 as “insufficiently tested” and “intrinsically flawed”. He warned that the plan “raised serious questions about the wisdom and long-term risk of dramatic reductions in force structure, weapons systems, and manpower levels in units that would take steady casualties in most combat scenarios”.

So what has got them all so upset? 

Launched in 2020 by Marine Corps Commandant General David H Berger, the plan is intended to equip the Marines for a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region rather than counter-insurgency wars like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new plan sees the Marines as fighting dispersed operations across chains of islands. Units will be smaller, and more spread out but packing a much bigger punch through a variety of new weapons systems. Huge amphibious landings like in World War Two or massive deployments on land – like in Iraq – will probably be things of the past.

North Korea-backed hackers stole $1.7bn (£1.4bn) of crypto in 2022, says blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

This nearly quadruples the country’s previous record for cryptocurrency theft – $429m in 2021.

The loot also made up 44% of the $3.8bn stolen in crypto hacks last year, which the firm called “the biggest year ever for crypto hacking”.

Experts have said the country, facing heavy sanctions, is turning to crypto theft to fund its nuclear arsenal.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests and analysts expect the seventh one this year, as the country accelerates its nuclear weapons program under leader Kim Jong-un. Last year, Pyongyang launched a record number of ballistic and other missiles. This is despite the country’s struggling economy. 

“For context, North Korea’s total exports in 2020 totaled $142m worth of goods, so it isn’t a stretch to say that cryptocurrency hacking is a sizable chunk of the nation’s economy,” Chainalysis said in a report on Wednesday.

These hackers typically launder crypto through “mixers”, which blend cryptocurrencies from various users to obfuscate the origins of the funds, the firm said.

Other experts have also said that North Korea launders stolen crypto through brokers in China and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

Last month, the FBI confirmed that North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group was responsible for a $100m crypto heist on a blockchain network called Horizon bridge last year. 

Overall, decentralized finance protocols, or DeFi, accounted for over 82% of cryptocurrency stolen in 2022, Chainalysis’ report said.

DeFi users know what will happen to their funds when they use them because smart contract codes governing these protocols are publicly accessible by default. 

But this transparency also makes DeFi particularly attractive to hackers, who can scan the codes for vulnerabilities and “strike at the perfect time” to maximize their loot, according to the report. 

David Schwed, chief operating officer at blockchain security firm Halborn, noted that DeFi developers “prioritize growth over all else”, and funds that could be used to enhance security are often directed instead to rewards, in order to attract users.

DeFi developers can take a leaf from traditional financial institutions in making their platforms more secure, Mr Schwed said. 

For instance, they can simulate different hacking scenarios to test their protocols or design mechanisms to pause or halt transactions when suspicious activity is detected.

“You don’t need to move as slow as a bank, but you can borrow from what banks do,” he said.