The Navy will receive an upgraded destroyer Tuesday, after nearly a year of refurbishment aimed at strengthening anti-submarine and other capabilities, the state arms procurement agency said. The 3,200-ton KDX-I destroyer, Eulji Mundeok, was sent for the upgrade in January. It is now equipped with the latest towed array sonar system designed to reinforce anti-submarine capabilities, the Defense ...

South Korea‘s military approved a plan Monday to locally develop and deploy a reconnaissance and surveillance drone by 2031 to better defend the country’s northwestern border islands, the state arms procurement agency said. The Defense Project Promotion Committee endorsed the project worth 570 billion won ($479 million) for the drone designed to be operated aboard Navy warships and by Marine Cor...

S. Korea, US appear to be on different page in dealing with China challenge

South Korea's military on Monday reported 33 additional COVID-19 cases, including 31 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,153. Of the new cases, 11 are from the Navy, nine from the Army, eight from the Air Force, and five from units under the direct control of the defense ministry. Currently, 278 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total milita...

South Korea has signed a contract to mass-produce ground communication devices for joint operations with the military's new satellite launched last year, the arms procurement agency said Monday. Under the deal, two local defense firms -- LIG Nex1 Co. and Hanwha Systems Co. -- will produce eight different ground-based communication devices through 2025 with a budget of 888.5 billion won ($748.5 m...

South Korea's defense ministy on Saturday reported 25 additional COVID-19 cases, with 24 of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload in the military to 3,089. Of the new cases, five are from the Army, 13 from the Navy, five from the Air Force, two from units under the direct control of the defense ministry. Of the total military caseload, 1,297 are breakthrough cases. The...

South Korea's military on Friday reported 37 additional COVID-19 cases, including 30 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,064. Of the new cases, 24 are from the Army, six from the Navy, four from the Air Force, two from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and one from the Marine Corps, the ministry said. Currently, 286 military personne...

President Moon Jae-in visited a front-line military unit on a western border island on Thursday and hailed Marines there for their hard work, Cheong Wa Dae said. Moon flew by helicopter to Baengnyeong Island near the western sea border with North Korea and began his visit by paying his respects at a memorial dedicated to the 46 sailors killed in the North's sinking of the Cheonan corvette in 201...

South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook on Thursday emphasized the need for close defense cooperation with China and Japan to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the region, the defense ministry said. "While the alliance between South Korea and the United States remains strong, I think (Seoul should) closely cooperate and get along with neighboring China," Suh said during a l...

South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook held talks with his Singaporean counterpart Thursday to discuss regional security cooperation, including joint efforts to fight terrorism, his office said. The talks between Suh and Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen came on the second day of his three-day trip to Singapore, a key partner for Seoul's New Southern Policy aimed at deepening ties with th...

South Korea's military on Thursday reported 26 additional COVID-19 cases, including 23 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,027. Of the new cases, 12 are from the Army, six from the Air Force, five from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, one from the Navy, and one from the Marine Corps, the ministry said. Currently, 289 military perso...

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 24 additional COVID-19 cases, including 22 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,001. Of the new cases, 13 are from the Army, four from the Navy, four from the Air Force, two from the Marine Corps and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry, the ministry said. Currently, 297 military per...

South Korea has completed the deployment of upgraded reconnaissance vehicles with stronger capabilities to counter chemical and biological security threats, the state arms procurement agency said Wednesday. The chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance vehicle is able to monitor hazardous airborne agents from a long distance and can send a CBRN warning via a military c...

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 17 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 2,980. Of the new cases, 10 are from the Army, four from the Marine Corps, two from the Air Force, and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry, the ministry said. Currently, 307 military personnel are ...

South Korea was the world's 9th-largest arms exporter in the 2016-2020 period, accounting for 2.7 percent of the world's total defense exports, an annual government report showed Monday. According to the Global Defense Market Yearbook 2021 released by the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT), South Korea's arms export ranking rose from 10th place in the...