Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
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Bidders for fighter jet project resubmit offers
Foreign defense companies competing for South Korea's a multi-billion dollar project for combat jet acquisition handed in their renewed bids Thursday, officials here said, as the evaluation process is poised to get underway.The F-15 Silent Eagle (SE) by U.S. firm Boeing, the F-35A by another American company Lockheed Martin, and the Eurofighter by Europe-based multinational defense group EADS are
July 5, 2012
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U.S. strategic pivot toward Asia deepens ties with Seoul
This is the second in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Amid its strategic pivot toward the Asia-Pacific, America’s long-standing alliance with South Korea is expected to deepen to better deal with an increasingly bellicose North Korea and a rising China.Forged during the 1950-53 Korean War, the alliance, which had focused on deterring the North, has evolved into a more multi-faceted,
July 5, 2012
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Budget constraints get in way of pursuing high-tech weapons projects
The U.S. is focusing on securing strategic military assets with radar-evading capability to help offset China’s anti-access/area-denial capabilities.To help neutralize China’s increasingly sophisticated missile capabilities, the U.S. is seeking to introduce stealth warships and more fifth-generation combat aircraft such as the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer and F-35 combat aircraft.Along with its missile defense program and other advanced military assets, these high-tech weapons are to be inte
July 5, 2012
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U.S. refocusing on Asia-Pacific
China’s ‘anti-access/ area-denial’ capabilities pose threat to U.S., itsallies in Asia-PacificThis is the first in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.After a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. is refocusing on the Asia-Pacific where it faces a rising China ― a potentially destabilizing factor in the regional order it has fostered since the end of World War II.It has mapped o
July 4, 2012
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Korean wartime sex slaves sue Japanese for defamation
A group of South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II jointly took legal action on Wednesday, denouncing a right-wing Japanese activist’s nationalistic acts and comments regarding a local bronze statue representing Japan’s wartime crimes as defamatory.The House of Sharing, an organization working for the women, said the group of 10 victims filed a defamation complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office against far-right activist No
July 4, 2012
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Seoul sees little chance of bilateral meeting with Pyongyang at ASEAN forum
South Korea sees little chance of holding a bilateral meeting with North Korea on the sidelines of a regional security forum next week in Cambodia, a senior official at Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday. The two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, set for July 12-13, is the region’s biggest security forum. Among those attending are the countries in the six-party negotiations to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, which involve North and South Korea, th
July 4, 2012
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RIMPAC not targeting N.K., China, U.S. says
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― As they conduct the world’s largest multinational maritime exercise, the U.S., South Korea and 20 other nations are not taking direct aim at either China or North Korea, a top American Navy officer said Tuesday.“RIMPAC is not focused on any specific geographic area within the Pacific,” Vice Adm. Gerald Beaman, commander of the U.S. Third Fleet, said during a teleconference with Asian reporters. “It’s an opportunity for all of us to come together to really improve inter
July 4, 2012
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AirSea Battle aims to neutralize anti-access capabilities
To tackle anti-access challenges, the U.S. is now fleshing out a new military operational concept ― the “AirSea Battle.” The concept is to conduct integrated aerial and naval operations across all domains such as air, maritime, space and cyberspace to neutralize “anti-access/area denial” capabilities.It is comparable to the successful “AirLand Battle” concept that undergirded America’s war-fighting doctrine to contain the armed forces of the former Soviet-led Warsaw Pact from the 1980s to the 19
July 4, 2012
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New guidance indicates departure from ‘two-war’ strategy
The new U.S. defense guidance puts forward a new war strategy in an apparent departure from its “Two Major Regional Conflicts” concept.The MRC is designed to win two major wars in two different regions ― a strategy that experts say is no longer suitable for the debt-ridden U.S., which is struggling with public fatigue from a decade of costly warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan.The U.S. created the strategy after the end of the Cold War to equip its military with the capability to fight and win two m
July 4, 2012
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Defense Ministry kept silent on initialing information pact with Japan since April,
The Ministry of National Defense’s decision to withhold the fact that the military information sharing agreement with Japan was initiated in April is further fueling the controversy over the South Korean government’s handing of the issue.On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry revealed that a provisional version of the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan was initiated by the deputy chief of the international policy bureau Brig. Gen. Shin Kyung-soo and Japanese foreign ministry
July 4, 2012
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S. Korea to halt talks on logistics deal with Japan
South Korea plans to call off discussions on a military logistics accord with Japan, a government source here said Tuesday, as Seoul deals with the aftermath of a controversial attempt to sign a separate military intelligence-sharing deal with Tokyo.The source said relevant government ministries are "building consensus" toward stopping talks on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).
July 3, 2012
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Aerobatics team wins first prize in U.K. air show
The Korean Air Force aerobatics team Black Eagles won first prize in the display category of the Waddington International Air Show, the Air Force announced Tuesday.The Black Eagles is the Air Force’s official flight display team that operates the locally developed T-50 trainer jets. The Waddington International Air Show is the largest air show organized by the U.K.’s Royal Air Force, and the first international event the Black Eagles participated in. According to the Air Force, the display compe
July 3, 2012
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Defense Ministry initiated pact with Japan in April
The government belatedly admitted on Tuesday that it signed a provisional military intelligence pact with Japan in April but kept it under wraps for more than two months.Korea postponed its official signing scheduled for Friday amid criticism that the government surreptitiously handled the highly sensitive first-ever defense pact with Tokyo.Earlier on Tuesday the opposition Democratic United Party claimed that the Defense Ministry had already initialized the General Security of Military Informat
July 3, 2012
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S. Korea-Japan military pact tentatively signed in April: officials
South Korea had already signed a provisional military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan in late April, but didn't report it to the National Assembly, Seoul officials confirmed Tuesday.The tentative agreement on sharing delicate military intelligence was signed on April 23 in Tokyo between Army Brig.Gen. Shin Kyung-soo, the deputy chief of international policy at Seoul's defense ministry, and Ke
July 3, 2012
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Defense Ministry asks for 7.6% increase
The Defense Ministry has requested a 7.6 percent increase in next year’s budget as it seeks to introduce aerial refueling aircraft and a low-altitude radar system as well as strengthen other areas.The ministry announced Monday that it has submitted the 35.47 trillion won ($31.03 billion) proposal to the Ministry of Finance and Strategy. The request includes 10.99 trillion won for Defense Acquisition Program Administration projects aimed at improving the country’s military capabilities. It marks
July 2, 2012
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Military to improve conditions for troops
The number of barracks shared only by soldiers with the same date of enlistment will be increased as part of plans to improve the conditions for those serving the mandatory military service, the Ministry of National Defense announced Monday. Under the plans, barracks equipped with beds will house only those with the same enlistment date, while facilities with sleeping platforms will house soldiers of the same rank or those who enlisted on the same day. Since 2003, the military has been fitting b
July 2, 2012
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Seoul, Beijing to discuss disaster relief cooperation
The South Korean and Chinese militaries will discuss signing a memorandum of understanding on mutual assistance on disaster relief, the Ministry of National Defense announced Monday.The ministry said that its logistics chief Lee Sang-wook will discuss the matter with his Chinese counterpart during the eighth Korea-China military logistics conference in China.The plans to sign an MOU on collaborating in disaster relief operations was first discussed by Korea’s Minister of National Defense Kim Kwa
July 2, 2012
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S. Korea to press ahead with military pact with Japan
South Korea will press ahead with the signing of a landmark military pact with Japan after briefing the National Assembly about it, a senior official said Monday, dismissing speculation the sensitive accord could be scrapped altogether due to mounting public criticism.On Friday, the government put the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) on hold at the last minute – just an
July 2, 2012
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Seoul smarts after Japan pact fiasco
The postponed military accord between Korea and Japan faces a rough ride as a public and political backlash driven by anti-Japanese sentiment is expected to persist in a pivotal election year. In a major diplomatic embarrassment, Seoul called off a signing ceremony at the last minute on Friday for the General Security of Military Information Agreement, designed to facilitate the exchange of intelligence on North Korea and search-and-rescue-related operations.The main opposition Democratic United
July 1, 2012
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Seoul-Tokyo military pact would be 'useful,' U.S. says
The U.S. government said Friday that a Seoul-Tokyo accord on sharing military information, if signed, will be "useful, but it maintained a largely cautious stance on the sensitive bilateral issue."Such agreements would be useful but we recognize that this is a bilateral issue for the ROK and Japan," a State Department spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency on the customary condition of anonymity. “T
June 30, 2012