Most Popular
-
1
Yoon calls for dialogue, trust from medical community
-
2
NK leader guides firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers
-
3
Dyson founder visits Seoul for global debut of new hair dryer
-
4
Leaders call for action against threats to democracy posed by AI
-
5
Asiana Airlines wins data transfer certification in China
-
6
Dispute heats up over dispatch of scandal-ridden envoy to Australia
-
7
Dodgers beat S. Korea in final exhibition before MLB opener in Seoul
-
8
Disgraced ex-K-pop star released after serving time for sex crimes
-
9
Trump unlikely to unravel IRA: experts
-
10
Yoon says medical licenses should not be used as tool against people
-
U.S. defense chief to visit S. Korea next week: source
The defense secretary of the United States will visit South Korea next week for talks with his local counterpart on key pending security issues, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday, with attention drawn to the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system here."For now, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter is scheduled to come here on April 9 for a three-day stay," defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said at a regular briefing without further elaboration.A Seoul source, requ
March 31, 2015
-
KAI picked for fighter jet project
Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s sole aircraft maker, was selected as the preferred bidder for an 8.6 trillion won ($7.8 billion) project to develop an indigenous fighter jet by 2025, Seoul’s military acquisition agency said Monday.The national defense acquisition program committee, presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo, made the decision to speed up the project, codenamed “KF-X,” which has been more than a decade behind schedule due to budgetary and feasibility issues. KAI beat
March 30, 2015
-
KAI picked as preferred bidder for S. Korean fighter jet project
South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) Ltd., was picked as the preferred bidder for the country's indigenous fighter jet development program Monday, the arms procurement agency said.Codenamed KF-X, the 8.67 trillion won ($7.84 billion) project calls for South Korea to develop fighter jets of the F-16 class to replace its aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s. Some 120 jets are to be put into service starting around 2025, with the production to cost another 9.3 trillion
March 30, 2015
-
Korea, U.S. talk missile defense cooperation
The military leaders of South Korea and the U.S. discussed ways to enhance interoperability between their countries’ ballistic missile defense systems and their capabilities to counter North Korea’ evolving security threats, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.South Korea’s JCS Chairman Choi Yun-hee and his U.S. counterpart Martin Dempsey held a meeting in Seoul, during which the two touched on an array of bilateral and regional security issues including the preparations for the conditions
March 27, 2015
-
S. Korea, U.S. kick off large-scale maritime drill
South Korea and the United States launched a large-scale joint maritime field training exercise on Friday to strengthen interoperability in amphibious operations between the allies' forces, the Navy here said Friday.The five-day war game in South Korea's southern port city of Pohang is part of the allies' annual landing drill -- known as Ssangyong in South Korea and the Korean Marine Exchange Program in the U.S. -- that began on Monday.For the maneuvers, some 7,600 marines and sailors of the two
March 27, 2015
-
President marks sinking of Cheonan with warning against N.K. provocations
President Park Geun-hye on Thursday called on Pyongyang to renounce “reckless” provocations and nuclear ambitions, urging it to pursue “genuine change” and end its international isolation. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of Pyongyang’s torpedo attack on the corvette Cheonan at the national cemetery in Daejeon, Park also called for a robust deterrence based on the country’s alliance with the U.S. to fend off the North’s possible provocations.“The North should dismiss the thou
March 26, 2015
-
U.S. military chief’s Seoul visit fuels THAAD speculation
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey arrived in Seoul on Thursday, drawing keen attention to whether he will initiate consultations with South Korean officials on deploying an advanced missile defense system.On the first day of his three-day visit to Seoul, Dempsey visited President Park Geun-hye, who conferred to him the Order of National Security Merit’s “Tongil Medal” for his contribution to enhancing the South Korea-U.S. alliance. He came here following his three-day visit to J
March 26, 2015
-
Military uniforms to display national flag
In a move to boost Korean soldiers’ sense of honor and duty, all military uniforms will display the Korean national flag within this year, the Ministry of Defense said Thursday.“We came up with the measure to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Korea’s independence and to encourage military personnel to feel more pride about their service,” Defense Ministry deputy spokesperson Na Seng-yong said at a news briefing.Currently, only select groups ― Korean soldiers assigned to the Korean Augmentation
March 26, 2015
-
S. Korea boosts defense posture after warship sinking
"Remember the warship Cheonan!"Under the simple but desperate slogan, the South Korean Navy has significantly bolstered its underwater capabilities and combat readiness since North Korea's deadly sinking of the corvette five years ago. On March 26, 2010, the 1,200-ton warship sank while on a training mission in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 out of the 104 sailors on board. A South Korean-led international investigation concluded that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the ship, though Pyongyang has
March 26, 2015
-
[Newsmaker] Navy beset by corruption
The South Korean Navy is faltering under a string of corruption and sexual scandals involving former and current senior officials, triggering public criticism and calls for sweeping reform amid North Korea’s continued maritime threats.The scandals have overshadowed the Navy’s efforts to honor this week the sacrifices of the 46 sailors who were killed in the North’s torpedo attack on the corvette Cheonan five years ago.Former Chief of Naval Operations Hwang Ki-chul (right) attends a farewell cere
March 25, 2015
-
Army to deploy new MLRS this year
The South Korean military is expected to deploy an advanced multiple launch rocket system to some of the Army’s frontline units from the latter half of the year, amid North Korea’s continued artillery threats, a military source said Tuesday.The new domestically made MLRS, called “Chunmoo,” will bolster South Korea’s artillery counterstrike capabilities as it has a range of up to 80 kilometers ― double the range of the currently deployed “Guryong” rocket system, the source said, declining to be i
March 24, 2015
-
Defense bolstered five years after Cheonan sinking
Five years after North Korea’s torpedo attack on the corvette Cheonan, the South Korean Navy has expressed full confidence in its enhanced capabilities to counter another provocation by the communist state and make up for the tragedy that killed 46 sailors.The incident took place in the West Sea near the Northern Limit Line, a de facto sea border, at 9:22 p.m. on March 26, 2010. A South Korea-led multinational probe team has concluded that a midget submarine torpedoed the 1,200-ton patrol ship ―
March 22, 2015
-
U.S. to increase multi-rocket system troops in S. Korea
The United States plans to send an additional multiple launch rocket system battalion to South Korea in May to better deter North Korea's artillery threats, U.S. Forces Korea said Saturday.The U.S. secretary of defense "approved the nine-month rotation of a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) battalion to South Korea to provide unique counter-fire capabilities supporting its defense," the 8th Army said in a press release.The first rotational battalion will join the 210th Field Artillery Brigade
March 21, 2015
-
Minesweepers' deployment faces delay due to faulty parts
South Korea's deployment of minesweepers is expected to be delayed by at least a year as their key parts fail to meet the military's requirements, the procurement agency said Friday. Under the 489.2 billion won ($435.6 million) project launched in 2010, South Korea has been pushing to acquire three Minesweeper Hunters for the Navy to better counter threats posed by naval mines. The vessels were supposed to be deployed from August 2015 to 2019. After a four-week inspection of the project, the D
March 20, 2015
-
Top U.S. military officer to visit S. Korea next week
The top U.S. military officer will visit South Korea next week for talks with his counterpart on boosting the bilateral alliance, Seoul officials said Friday, amid keen attention on whether the two will discuss the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system here. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is scheduled to arrive Thursday for a three-day stay, during which he plans to hold talks with South Korea's JCS chairman, Adm. Choi Yun-hee, and m
March 20, 2015
-
U.S. commander says he believes N. Korea already miniaturized some nuclear weapons
The United States believes North Korea has already succeeded in making some nuclear weapons small enough to fit atop missiles, a top American military official said Thursday. "We know North Korea's ambitions in terms of their demonstrated cyber, their ambitions for nuclear weapons, the tests that have already occurred. And we think they already miniaturized some of this capability," Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
March 20, 2015
-
USFK commander calls for 'layered' missile defense capability
South Korea and the U.S. should build a "layered" ballistic missile defense capability, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said, in what could be seen as a call for deploying the THAAD system designed to intercept incoming missiles at high altitudes. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti made the remark in a written testimony submitted Wednesday to the House appropriations subcommittee on defense amid intensifying debates in South Korea about whether to accept a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batte
March 20, 2015
-
THAAD ruckus reveals Cold War mentality
The heated debate over the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense battery to the peninsula is spawning concerns that the Cold War-era mentality still lives on here and will complicate Seoul’s strategic approaches to security issues.Since the issue surrounding the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system surfaced last year, a flurry of reports and expert analyses have depicted it as a matter of Seoul’s choice between the U.S. and China, as if the two economically interdependent
March 19, 2015
-
Admiral under probe for sexual harassment
The Navy launched an investigation on Thursday into allegations that a three-star commander sexually harassed caddies at a golf course inside a naval unit at Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, last year.The commander, whose identity was withheld, is purported to have demanded that the caddies sing songs and dance on the golf course. He admitted he asked them to sing, but denied that they were asked to dance.The allegations are the latest in a series of sexual assault cases that has rattled the m
March 19, 2015
-
S. Korea, U.S. Marines hold large-scale joint drill
Marines of South Korea and the United States are staging a large-scale command post exercise on and around the Korean Peninsula to check and further boost their joint combat capabilities, the Marine Corps here said Thursday.Some 500 South Korean Marines and 1,700 American troops from III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) stationed in Okinawa, Japan, began their exercise on Wednesday, which is to be staged until Sunday, in the southeastern city of Pohang, the city of Osan, just south of Seoul,
March 19, 2015