SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military said Sunday it will hold "routine" live-fire drills this week near the Yellow Sea border islands with North Korea, despite the North's warning of "merciless" retaliation if provoked. The South's military notified North Korea of the planned drills near the five border islands, set for Monday, through its representatives at the truce village of Pan...

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said Saturday he backs Army commanders who ordered officers in their units to delete smartphone applications considered pro-North Korea and critical of the government of President Lee Myung-bak. So far, the commanders of at least two Army units are known to have ordered the deletion of about 10 apps, including "Naneun Ggomsuda," or "I'm a ...

Israel has decided to purchase 30 Italian-made trainer aircraft in its $1 billion procurement project, snubbing South Korea’s efforts to sell its homegrown planes overseas. Israeli defense officials told the media on Thursday that their government had reached a preliminary deal to buy the M-346 military training planes built by the Italian firm Alenia Aermacchi. Israeli officials, quoted in new...

President Lee Myung-bak has floated the idea of establishing English-learning centers at military bases to prepare service members for job opportunities in the Middle East, an official said Friday. After a trip to the Middle East last week, Lee has repeatedly said he saw good business opportunities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, countries with large amounts of oil money, an...

The South Korean military will establish a new submarine command within the Navy by 2015 as part of its efforts to strengthen its underwater operational capabilities. In a related development, the navies of South Korea and the U.S. will be holding a five-day joint anti-submarine drill from Feb. 20 in the West Sea. The exercise is aimed at increasing the allies’ ability to counter North Korean s...

The Ministry of National Defense will establish a language institution for training officers and non-commissioned officers in December. According to sources, the ministry plans to merge language-training institutions run by the different branches of the military to establish a military language institute. The new institution will instruct officers and non-commissioned officers who are scheduled...

South Korea is seeking to build a pilot training center in Portugal that will be equipped with the Korean Aerospace Industries’ T-50 supersonic military jet trainer, a government source said Saturday. The defense ministry source, who declined to be identified, said Portugal was tapped as the primary negotiation partner for the International Military Flight Training Center Consortium last year. H...

South Korean Marine Corps soldiers took part in a major landing drill as part of a multinational exercise in Thailand Friday, officials said. Marine officials said 115 Marines, along with eight amphibious assault vehicles, participated in the drill during the Cobra Gold exercise, along with dozens of troops from the U.S. and Thailand. The exercise will wrap up on Feb. 17. The South Korean troo...

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- The nominee to head U.S. troops in the Asia-Pacific area said Thursday that North Korea’s leadership change adds to regional security concerns on top of the possibility of the communist regime using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). “In fact, with the uncertainties associated with the ongoing leadership transition, upcoming challenges on the Peninsula may be even gr...

The defense ministry is set to undergo restructuring to bolster the military’s defense against weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and cyber warfare, officials said Thursday. Under the proposed change, the ministry’s department of non-proliferation will be renamed the “department of WMD response,” they said. Officials in that department will be tasked with forming defense policy against North Kore...

South Korea and the U.S. are set to hold talks on defense technology security this week, officials said Thursday. The third annual Defense Technology Security Consultative Meeting (DTSCM) will be held on Hawaii from Thursday to Saturday, according to officials at the South‘s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Kwon Oh-bong, the vice commissioner of the DAPA, and James Hursch, the...

The state auditing agency and the defense ministry have uncovered major illegal profiteering schemes in military logistics and are investigating for further irregularities, a government source said Wednesday. The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) and the ministry launched a joint investigation into the logistics commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force in November last year, the source said. ...

South Korea on Tuesday denied a media report that some U.S. marines stationed in Japan may be redeployed to the South on a rotational basis, as Washington and Tokyo consider transferring thousands of American forces from Okinawa to other regions. An unspecified number of U.S. marines on Okinawa is likely to be transferred to South Korea under a plan whereby the U.S. redeploys some marines from t...