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Yoon, Lee end first talks with differences, agree to meet more
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What is Hybe’s next move?
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China outpaces Korea in smaller OLED shipments for 1st time
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[Herald Interview] Mom’s Touch seeks to replicate success in Japan
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Police to open alleged stalking probe over pastor over Dior bag scandal
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'Queen of Tears' finale sets record viewership ratings as tvN's most-watched series ending
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[News Focus] Lee tells Yoon that he has governed without political dialogue
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Seoul to deploy more military doctors to fill med prof void
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Seoul vows to keep deadline for wartime control transfer
South Korea's defense ministry reaffirmed its commitment Monday to work with its American counterpart to take back wartime operational control in 2015 as scheduled, despite growing calls to delay the process to counter North Korea aggression.Asked about the need to postpone the deadline in the wake of growing threats posed by Pyongyang, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told lawmakers that preparations are "well underway" as agreed by the governments of the two nations."Currently, the defense minist
April 22, 2013
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Korean, U.S. reaffirm N.K. contingency plan
Top South Korean and U.S. military officers reiterated Thursday that the allies would respond firmly to any North Korean provocations in accordance with their recently signed contingency plan.During their 37th Military Committee Meeting, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo and his U.S. counterpart Gen. Martin Dempsey also reaffirmed that preparations for the transfer of wartime operational control slated for 2015 were “on track.”They agreed to refine the specifics on the fu
April 19, 2013
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[Photo News] Antiterror drills
April 18, 2013
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Seoul to purchase 36 Apache helicopters
South Korea on Wednesday selected Boeing’s AH-64E Apache Guardian for a 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) procurement project amid escalating military threats posed by North Korea, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.The new fleet of advanced attack helicopters would play a crucial role in countering possible North Korean amphibious infiltrations into western border islands and other possible attacks.Seoul plans to deploy them between 2016 and 2018.Boeing’s Apache beat U.S. firm Be
April 17, 2013
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Japan ready to ink military pact with S. Korea 'at any time'
The Japanese ambassador to Seoul said Wednesday that Tokyo is prepared to sign a military intelligence pact with South Korea "at any time," urging Seoul to boost military partnership in the face of North Korea's bellicosethreats. South Korea and Japan postponed the signing of the military intelligence-sharing agreement last July -- which would have been the first military pact between the two nations -- due to discontent among Koreans. Memories of Japan's brutal colonial rule on the Korean Peni
April 17, 2013
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Korea eyes extra 217 billion won for defense spending
The Defense Ministry said Tuesday it will submit a 217.4 billion won ($194.3 million) supplementary budget to the parliament for approval to increase spending on weapons on the frontlines and shelters on border islands to better counter North Korean threats amid high tensions.The Cabinet approved an extra budget worth 17.3 trillion won for this year in a bid to revitalize the economy faced with gloomy market conditions at home and abroad. The budget is the largest since 2009 when the nation unve
April 16, 2013
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No injuries reported in U.S. military chopper crash
A U.S. military helicopter crashed while landing at a front-line Army unit Tuesday, but all of three crew members and 13 U.S. soldiers on board escaped unscathed, police and military officials said.Sikorsky's CH-53 transport helicopter crashed onto a military shooting range in Cherwon, 88 kilometers north of Seoul, while landing after completing a three-hour training exercise along with five other helicopters, according to military officials. After all the American soldiers had escaped to safety
April 16, 2013
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S. Korea divides nuclear plant controls from Internet
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., the sole operator of South Korea's nuclear power plants, said Sunday that it has separated its internal computer network from the Internet in an effort to guard against possible cyber attacks. The state-run company said it has also completely divided its nuclear plant control systems from its internal computer networks and restricted both systems' access to the Internet.USB ports of the nuclear power plant control systems have also been sealed, it added. The
April 14, 2013
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Border mountain fire eases
A wind-fed mountain fire that broke out in North Korea and spread into the South Korean sector of the inter-Korean border Saturday was largely broughtunder control, military authorities said. The blaze, first spotted in the northern side of the 4-kilometer-wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at around 4:40 a.m., quickly spread past the eastern sector of the 248-kilometer border and reached within 100 meters of the nearest South Korean guard posts inside the buffer zone, they said. Two forest servic
April 14, 2013
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Allied forces on high alert amid N.K. missile threats
South Korea and the U.S. stepped up their intelligence and surveillance activities on Wednesday amid growing signs of North Korea’s imminent multiple missile launches.The allied forces raised the Watch Condition, or Watchcon, by one notch to level 2, and bolstered their intelligence personnel. Intelligences indicated Pyongyang has finalized preparations to launch its Musudan intermediate-range missiles from its east coast. Seoul officials said. “North Korea can fire missiles at any time now, if
April 10, 2013
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Korea to develop mid-altitude drones
South Korea will resume a once-aborted program to develop mid-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAV) to bolster its monitoring capabilities of North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, a military source said Tuesday.The state-funded Agency for Defense Development launched the indigenous drone development project in 2006 and made a prototype in May 2010. But the project was put on ice in early 2011 as it overlapped with Seoul’s plan to buy high-altitude UAVs. As calls grew for reviving the 16
April 9, 2013
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Pentagon delays missile test out of N.K. concern
The U.S. Defense Department has postponed its plan to conduct an intercontinental ballistic missile test at its Air Force base in California amid escalating tensions with North Korea.The Pentagon planned to conduct the Minuteman III test in the coming week, but put it off until sometime next month out of concerns the launch could further worsen the tension on the peninsula, the AP reported, citing one senior U.S. defense official.Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made the decision Friday, the report
April 7, 2013
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S. Korea's defense spending rises amid N. Korea's nuclear threat
SEOUL -- South Korea's defense spending rose for the third consecutive year last year, data showed Sunday, amid escalating tensions with North Korea over its persistent nuclear and missile threats. South Korea spent 2.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense last year, the highest level in three years, according to figures by the Ministry of National Defense. South Korea's defense expenditure totaled 32.9576 trillion won (US$29 billion), accounting for 2.59 percent of the
April 7, 2013
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U.S. delays missile test as tensions rise: source
The U.S. Defense Department has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that had been planned for next week at an Air Force base in California amid mounting tensions with North Korea, a senior defense official told The Associated Press. The official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to put off the long-planned Minuteman 3 test until sometime next month because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis. Hagel made the decision Friday, th
April 7, 2013
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Pentagon approves fighter jet sale to Seoul
The U.S. Defense Department has notified Congress of the possible sale of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth warplane or Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle to South Korea, which is to pick the winner of its fighter acquisition contest later this year.On Wednesday, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which handles Washington’s foreign military sales, announced the compulsory congressional notification, which took place last Friday.“The proposed sale will provide it (South Korea) with a credible defense
April 4, 2013
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Allied cohesion at core of N.K. deterrence
YANGJU, Gyeonggi Province ― North Korea’s increasing threats have sent South Korean and U.S. military planners racing to beef up weapons systems and upgrade strategies. To frontline commanders, mutual trust and chemistry between the allied troops are as crucial as all the plans and equipment in maintaining a robust deterrence.The alliance between the two militaries has deepened over the last six decades, evolving beyond the role of peninsular defense toward the shared goals of promoting world pe
April 2, 2013
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Pressure builds on China as U.S. ups might in Korea
Pressure appears to be piling on China to tame its unruly ally North Korea as Pyongyang’s provocations have led to an increased U.S. military presence around the Korean Peninsula.Washington has sent to waters close to the peninsula the Sea-based X-Band Radar atop a floating platform, according to CNN. The radar is America’s most advanced tracking system with a range of around 4,800 kilometers that can cover China’s territory.The Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyer USS McCain was also reporte
April 2, 2013
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Defense Ministry to establish cyber policy department
South Korea’s Defense Ministry will establish a new department to oversee cyber deterrence policies and prepare information security measures to better deal with the emerging form of threats, a senior military official said Tuesday. The South Korean military launched the Cyber Command in early 2010 to handle cyber security issues along with different military and intelligence organizations, but there is no control tower to integrate the policies and strategies that defend military networks.The m
April 2, 2013
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U.S. destroyer sent to S. Korea coast: official
The United States has positioned a destroyer off the coast of South Korea to defend against a possible missile strike, a U.S. official said, as the South vowed a strong response to any provocation from the North.The USS Fitzgerald was moved to the southwestern coast after taking part in military exercises, instead of returning to its home port in Japan, a U.S. defense official told AFP Monday on condition of anonymity.The deployment came as North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament formalized the co
April 2, 2013
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Park to hold security ministers' meeting amid N.K. threats
South Korean President Park Geun-hye was to hold a meeting of Cabinet ministers related to foreign affairs and security on Tuesday amid North Korea's near-daily threats of war on the Korean Peninsula, an official said.It will be Park's first such meeting since she took office in February.The meeting will discuss the "situations at home and abroad," the official said without elaborating. Participants will include the chief of the national security office, the defense minister, the unification min
April 2, 2013