South Korean and US Marine Corps have developed a five-year plan to strengthen combined amphibious landing exercises, a US military unit here said Wednesday, amid the allies' move to sharpen deterrence against evolving North Korean threats. The US Marine Corps Forces Korea (MARFOR-K) revealed the formulation of the allies' training program, as Seoul and Washington are stepping up security cooper...

South Korean soldiers conducted combined training with their American fellows at a key training center in California earlier this month, the U.S. military said Tuesday, amid the allies' stepped-up move to sharpen deterrence against North Korean threats. The Army soldiers completed the training program at the National Training Center as part of efforts to improve "warfighting" capabilities and "i...

LONDON -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday awarded the Civil Merit Medal to a British veteran of the Korean War, thanking him for his sacrifice and dedication to the defense of peace. Yoon presented the medal to Victor Swift, who served as a corporal in the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during the 1950-53 war, after attending the state funeral of Queen Eliz...

South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul has received a briefing on key US nuclear assets, including a strategic bomber and "low-yield" weapons mountable on it, during a visit to a military base in the United States, his ministry said Friday. His tour of Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C., on Thursday (local time) followed North Korea's recent codification of an assertive nucl...

S. Korea, US discuss defense industrial and technological cooperation amid fierce competition over technological hegemony

US nuclear-powered supercarrier will stage military drills with South Korean warships for first time since 2017

Yoon government will abide by inter-Korean agreement except in case of unacceptable provocations, S. Korean vice defense minister says

An annual international security forum hosted by South Korea's defense ministry kicked off in Seoul on Tuesday for discussions on North Korea's denuclearization, cyberthreats, space security and other challenges. The three-day vice-ministerial Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) got under way at Lotte Hotel in central Seoul under the theme of "How to Address Complex Security Challenges: Fostering Inter...

Vice defense ministerial meeting will be held in Seoul for first time in six years

Yoon Suk-yeol government accelerates procedures to fully operate existing THAAD battery

South Korea and the United States are set to wrap up a major combined military exercise Thursday, Seoul officials said, in a conclusion highlighting their pursuit of stronger deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The allies have carried out the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which kicked off on Aug. 22, despite North Korean state media berating the annual drills as a rehe...

Controversial project to develop light aircraft carrier is left out in defense spending bill

The Defense Ministry promised more active communication with local residents regarding normalizing the THAAD anti-missile base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. Col. Moon Hong-sik, deputy spokesperson of the Defense Ministry, said in a regular briefing, "We will sufficiently and actively communicate with local residents. Not only the Defense Ministry, but also the government should...

The South Korean government announced a plan Tuesday for a 4.6 percent on-year increase in its defense budget for next year, with a focus on bolstering a key deterrence system to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The defense ministry has proposed a budget of 57.1 trillion won ($42.3 billion) for next year, up from this year's 54.6 trillion won. The government plans to submit it ...

WASHINGTON -- The US missile defense system deployed in South Korea, THAAD, is a purely defensive system that is only designed to protect South Korea and its people against threats from North Korea, a state department spokesperson said Monday. Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, also insisted any call or demand from other countries to withdraw THAAD would be "inapprop...