South Korea plans to kick-start a long-delayed program to build fighter jets despite lingering skepticism over its feasibility and technological barriers, officials said Sunday. The ambitious project, called KFX or Boramae, is aimed at producing F-16-class fighter jets. The military aims to introduce the first model by 2023 and deploy 120 units over the following several years, officials said. ...

The United States is making a hard push for a much larger South Korean share in the cost of stationing American troops here than what Seoul is willing to pay, local government sources said on Sunday, casting doubt over the two sides’ impending negotiations over the issue. The two countries will open a new round of talks on Thursday in Seoul to renew the Special Measure Agreement, under which the...

The United States is making a hard push for a much larger South Korean share in the cost of stationing American troops here than what Seoul is willing to pay, local government sources said on Sunday, casting doubt over the two sides' impending negotiations over the issue. The two countries will open a new round of talks on Thursday in Seoul to renew the Special Measure Agreement, under which the...

South Korea has dispatched a military expert to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to participate in international efforts to remove Syria’s chemical arsenal, a government source said Monday. “The Defense Ministry has recently sent an expert to the OPCW’s department related to activities to remove Syria’s chemical weapons,” the source said. The OPCW is carrying out a missi...

South Korea has finalized a deal with the U.S. government to have BAE Systems upgrade its aging fleet of more than 130 F-16 fighters to improve their electronic warfare capabilities, the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday. Under the foreign military sales program, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense signed a letter of agreement to u...

South Korea is facing a dilemma after its peacekeepers in South Sudan received ammunition from Japan, which Tokyo may use to bolster its assertive defense policy. Responding to a U.N. request, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces engineering troops in South Sudan supplied 10,000 rounds of ammunition to the South Korean troops on Monday through the U.N. mission in the African country. It was the first ti...

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― The city of Sejong in central South Korea is a step closer to becoming the country’s administrative hub as the second phase of government office relocation from Seoul will be completed next week, officials said Monday. Sejong, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul, was officially designated in 2012 to become a so-called special autonomous city that will house a total of 16 ce...

South Korean naval ships carrying water, food and medicine left the southern port city of Busan for the Philippines to support relief operations ongoing at the typhoon-stricken island nation, authorities said Saturday. The two-ship flotilla made up of amphibious landing ships -- the Sung In Bong and Bi Ro Bong -- left South Korea's largest port, carrying 260 crew members and various supplies, in...

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, who oversees field operations of American troops, voiced strong concerns Thursday about increased uncertainties surrounding North Korea and the possibility of additional provocations. Hagel stressed that North Korea's execution of Jang Song-thaek, a putative number two official, demonstrates the unpredictability of the communist regi...

South Korea on Thursday agreed to return the remains of 425 Chinese troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War to their homeland, a decision that could help ease diplomatic tension caused by their overlapping air defense zones. In June, President Park Geun-hye offered to send the remains back to China during her talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong in Beijing. “The two countries agreed ...

The defense ministry will announce this week the interim result of an investigation into the cyber warfare command over its alleged online smear campaign in last year's presidential election, military officials said Wednesday. The announcement, scheduled for Thursday, coincides with the one-year mark of last December's election in which the then ruling party candidate, Park Geun-hye, won a tight...

Rep. Cho claims signs of preparations for nuclear, missile tests