Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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Saenuri to launch panel for primary next week
The ruling Saenuri Party plans to form an election committee next week that will oversee its presidential primary, the party’s secretary general said Wednesday, balking at calls to launch a preparatory committee first to revise primary rules.Minor contenders such as Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo and Rep. Chung Mong-joon have called strongly for new primary rules, claiming the current system is favorable to former party chief Park Geun-hye.They demand the party first set up a primary pr
June 6, 2012
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U.S. to sell $325 million of advanced arms to Korea
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The United States is in the process of selling hundreds of cutting-edge weapons to South Korea, a deal expected to be worth $325 million, according to a defense agency here.The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it has notified Congress of possible sales to South Korea of 367 cluster bombs and associated parts, equipment, logistical support and training.The bombs, formally the sensor-fuzed CBU-105D/B Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser (WCMD), are typically dropped
June 6, 2012
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Security on Korean Peninsula worsens sharply in Q2: think tank
Security on the Korean Peninsula worsened in the second quarter of the year to one of the lowest levels in recent years, a report showed Wednesday, as North Korea launched a long-range rocket and escalated belligerent rhetoric against the South.The Samsung Economic Research Institute said in a report that its Korean Peninsula Security Index (KPSI), which is calculated based on a survey of about 40
June 6, 2012
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U.S. to sell $325 million of advanced weapons to Korea
The United States is in the process of selling hundreds of cutting-edge weapons to South Korea, a deal expected to be worth $325 million, according to a defense agency here.The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it has notified Congress of possible sales to South Korea of 367 cluster bombs and associated parts, equipment, logistical support and training. The bombs, formally the sensor-fuzed
June 6, 2012
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Korea seeks balance between security partners and China
Seoul seeks to expand defense ties with Tokyo, Beijing as security uncertainty growsSouth Korea is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it seeks to achieve balance between its traditional security partners and the growing power of China in Northeast Asia.Seoul has been working with Japan over possible military agreements concerning logistics and information despite domestic opposition stemming from long-standing historic and diplomatic disputes.With China, South Korea is seeking an agreement facili
June 5, 2012
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Pentagon defends sudden change of general in Korea
The Pentagon insisted Monday that the decision to replace the troubled leader of U.S. special forces in South Korea is not associated with his recent public blunder.Brig. Gen. Neil Tolley, commanding general of the Special Operations Command Korea, came under fire after he reportedly said in late May that some of his troops have been sent clandestinely into North Korea on spy missions.The Departme
June 5, 2012
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U.S. military procurement from S. Korea up 12.6% in 2011
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. military purchased more than $1.1 billion worth of South Korean goods and services in the 2011 fiscal year, an increase of 12.6 percent from $991 million in the previous year, according to a report released Sunday.In its annual report to Congress, based on statistics from the Federal Procurement Data System, the Defense Department said it spent a total of $374 billion for procurement activities for the year until September 2011.“Of that amount, approximately $
June 4, 2012
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Korea, US, Japan agree to expand cooperation to deter N. Korea
South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to strengthen cooperation in policy setting to better deter North Korean aggression, Seoul's defense ministry said Saturday.The ministry said the understanding was reached during a meeting of senior defense ministers at the two-day-long 11th Asia Security Summit under way in Singapore.South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, U.S. Secretary of Def
June 2, 2012
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US to shift most of naval fleet to Pacific by 2020
The United States will shift the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020 as part of a new strategic focus on Asia, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta told a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The decision to deploy more ships to the Pacific Ocean, along with expanding a network of military partnerships, was part of a "steady, deliberate" effort to bolster the US role in an area deemed vital to A
June 2, 2012
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Ministry calls for punishment of officer for criticizing Lee
The Defense Ministry called Tuesday for stern punishment for an Army officer indicted over his Twitter post critical of President Lee Myung-bak, saying the act of criticizing the supreme commander of the armed forces impedes military order and discipline.Military prosecutors have put the 29-year-old captain on trial recently on charges of insulting a superior in connection with his Twitter post criticizing President Lee with indecent language.The indictment was seen by some critics as restrictin
May 29, 2012
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Ministry calls for stern punishment of Army officer over criticism of Lee
The defense ministry called Tuesday for stern punishment for an Army officer indicted over his Twitter posting critical of President Lee Myung-bak, saying the act of criticizing the supreme commander of the armed forces impedes military order and discipline.Military prosecutors have put the 29-year-old captain on trial recently on charges of insulting a superior in connection with his Twitter post
May 29, 2012
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Korea seeks to acquire U.S. missiles, choppers
The U.S. Department of Defense is considering selling Harpoon Block II Missiles and Seahawk Helicopters to South Korea.The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in press releases last week that it had notified the U.S. Congress of the possible sale of 18 of the missiles, eight of the helicopters and their associated parts, equipment, logistical support and training. The estimated costs are $1.84 billion.The DSCA said it informed Congress of the proposal after a request by South Korea. Th
May 27, 2012
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Caisson to be dropped in waters at Jeju naval base construction site
A large caisson structure to be used for building a breakwater off Jeju Island's naval base construction site has been moved into position, South Korea's Navy said Saturday.It said the 8,800-ton structure that is 38 meters long, 25 meters wide and stands 20 meters high has been placed on a floating dock and moved offshore near Gangjeong village.It said the caisson will be the third such unit deplo
May 27, 2012
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Remains of S. Korean Korean War casualties return
The remains of 12 South Korean soldiers found north of the military demarcation line arrived in Seoul on Friday. It is the first time for the remnants of South Korean soldiers killed in the Korean War to be returned from North Korea since the cease-fire in 1953.“The Republic of Korea was defended as they fought at the risk of their lives. We have to find them, even their remains, who sacrificed their lives for the country, to the end. There are no greater patriots than them,” President Lee Myung
May 25, 2012
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S. Korea’s maritime security challenged
Experts say Seoul should bolster Navy amid competition for maritime supremacyAmid intensifying competition among regional powers for maritime primacy, South Korea is not equipped to fend off growing threats to its territorial waters and assert its strategic interests, experts said.With its military prioritizing deterring North Korea and lack of public understanding of maritime security, the country is lagging behind China and Japan despite them repeatedly challenging Korean sovereignty, experts
May 24, 2012
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Seoul plans to beef up missile arsenal
‘Ministry plans to inject 2.5 trillion won over next five years’The South Korean military plans to significantly beef up its arsenal of precision-guided missiles to counter threats from North Korea, officials said Monday.“It is agreed that missile capabilities need to be reinforced in order to fundamentally improve our ability to respond to asymmetric threats from North Korea,” Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.He was responding to a news report that President Lee Myung-bak
May 22, 2012
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Seoul seeks to boost military ties with China
South Korea recently approached China on signing an agreement regarding military supplies during emergency rescue operations as part of broadening defense cooperation between the two countries, officials said Monday.China, however, is reportedly cautious due to concerns that military agreements with Seoul may negatively impact North Korea.According to Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Kim Min-seok, the two countries are seeking an agreement similar to the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing
May 21, 2012
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Military mulls leasing text-only mobile phones to soldiers
South Korea's military is reviewing a plan to lease text-only mobile phones to soldiers, in a move to allow them to better communicate with their family members, friends and loved ones, a military source said Sunday. Conscripts are banned from possessing mobile phones while on duty and on-base access to the Internet is strictly prohibited.Enlisted men currently only use public phones at their
May 20, 2012
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Seoul cautiously optimistic on missile range extension
Uncertainty still lingers as Washington seems divided over S. Korea’s missile capabilitySouth Korea is cautiously optimistic over the prospect of revising a ballistic missile pact with the U.S. to have longer-range capabilities to bolster deterrence against North Korea, a government source said Wednesday.But as opinion appears divided within a Washington government that has spearheaded the global agenda of non-proliferation and arms control, uncertainty still lingers over the outcome of the rece
May 16, 2012
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No plan to deploy tactical nukes in S. Korea: Pentagon
The Pentagon said Monday that it will not redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea."Our policy remains in support of a non-nuclear Korean peninsula. There is no plan to change that policy," a spokesperson for the Department of Defense told Yonhap News Agency on the customary condition of anonymity."Tactical nuclear weapons are unnecessary for the defense of South Korea and we have no plan
May 15, 2012