The Korea Herald

S. Korea, U.S. conduct refueling exercise

Sept 19, 2011

South Korea’s Air Force is conducting an aerial refueling exercise in the country’s airspace for the first time with assistance from the U.S. military to help pilots acquire their refueling qualifications, officials said Monday. The 15-day exercise, ending Sept. 30, is taking place in airspace over the West Sea, using the U.S. military’s KC-135 tanker, which came from its base in Okinawa. South ...
Allies to respond to N.K. provocations

Sept 19, 2011

Defense minister says working-level talks under way to extend ballistic missile range South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to complete the establishment of an operational plan to jointly respond to North Korea’s localized provocations by the end of this year, the Defense Ministry said Monday. The plan is expected to allow South Korea to utilize the U.S. military support in an effective, timely ...
Military grilled on defense against N. Korean GPS jamming

Sept 19, 2011

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties alike on Monday grilled the defense ministry on the military's preparedness against North Korea's jamming of satellite signals. During the annual parliamentary audit, lawmakers on the standing committee on national defense said North Korea disrupted Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in South Korea in August and De...
S. Korea, U.S. hold joint drill on biological war

Sept 18, 2011

South Korea and the United States held a joint exercise in May to counter North Korea's possible biological attacks, a ruling party lawmaker said Sunday. Kim Hak-song of the Grand National Party (GNP) said that the anti-biological war drill was held on May 17-27 at the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the Korea Institute for Defense Analyst (KIDA), and was attended by senior official...
S. Korea, U.S. hold joint drill on biological war

Sept 18, 2011

South Korea and the United States held a joint exercise in May to counter North Korea's possible biological attacks, a ruling party lawmaker said Sunday. Kim Hak-song of the Grand National Party (GNP) said that the anti-biological war drill was held on May 17-27 at the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the Korea Institute for Defense Analyst (KIDA), and was attended by senior official...
U.S. spy plane to begin flights near DMZ

Sept 15, 2011

The U.S. is poised to start flying a spy plane near the Demilitarized Zone to acquire further intelligence on North Korea, a report said. In an article dated Monday, the Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper, quoted U.S. Air Force officials as saying the U.S. was negotiating with South Korea to fly Global Hawk spy aircraft near the DMZ and the deal was “very close” to being done. “Global...
Military to assign more women to combat duties

Sept 15, 2011

The military will place female officers in more combat duties that have so far been closed to them, a senior official said Thursday. Boo Jae-won, head of the personnel planning bureau at the defense ministry, said 12 combat branches will be open to female soldiers from 2012 to 2014. “We will open up artillery and armor branches of the Army to women,” Boo said. “Our plans are to have 7 percent o...
Lockheed to assemble Korean T-50 jets

Sept 15, 2011

U.S. company hints at transferring some of stealth technologies to S. Korea FORT WORTH, Texas ― Lockheed Martin will establish facilities in the U.S. for the final assembly of Korea’s T-50 supersonic aircraft to meet the possible U.S. demand for trainer jets, a senior official at the defense giant said last week. It has already reached an agreement on this with Korea Aerospace Industries, the c...
Military to assign more women to combat duties

Sept 15, 2011

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- The military will place female officers in more combat duties that have so far been closed to them, a senior official said Thursday. Boo Jae-won, head of the personnel planning bureau at the defense ministry, said 12 combat branches will be open to female soldiers from 2012 to 2014. "We will open up artillery and armor branches of the Army to women," Boo said. "Our p...
U.S. spy plane to begin flights near DMZ soon: report

Sept 15, 2011

The U.S. is poised to start flying a spy plane near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to acquire further intelligence on North Korea, a report said. In an article dated Monday, the Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper, quoted U.S. Air Force officials as saying the U.S. was negotiating with South Korea to fly Global Hawk spy aircraft near the DMZ and the deal was "very close" to being done. "...
Military seeks to improve efficiency in management

Sept 14, 2011

The Ministry of National Defense plans to introduce enhanced management methods in a variety of areas to cut its budget by 2.3 trillion won ($2.1 billion) by 2015, officials said Wednesday. It has decided on around 10 tasks to enhance efficiency in managing military facilities and equipment, and to remove wasteful spending. “In areas of military power enhancement, logistical support and defense...
‘Seoul may face W40tr bill for wartime U.S. support’

Sept 13, 2011

Professor claims replacement of USFK may cost W36tr South Korea may have to provide support worth 30-40 trillion won ($27.8-37 billion) to U.S. troops that will be augmented to fight here in case of a war under a bilateral accord, a defense professor recently claimed. Kwon Heon-cheol, professor at National Defense University, also said that should the U.S. Forces Korea be withdrawn, it may cost...
U.S. biggest arms seller for S. Korea in 2010

Sept 12, 2011

South Korea bought military weapons worth 982 billion won ($910 million) from the United States last year, a state-run arms procurement agency said Monday. Seoul's arms purchase from its strongest political ally accounted for roughly 66 percent of its total arms procurement, according to the report released by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Asia's fourth-largest economy ...
Seismic study points to explosion as cause of Cheonan ship sinking

Sept 7, 2011

An artificial seismic event that occurred at the time of the sinking of the Cheonan last year indicates that an explosion was the cause of the disaster, a study showed Wednesday. Hong Tae-kyung, a South Korean professor at Yonsei University, wrote in a recent paper that a tremor of 1.5 magnitude occurred at the time of the ship sinking on March 26 last year in the Yellow Sea. In the paper, publi...
Coast guard conducts emergency exercise near Ieodo

Sept 6, 2011

South Korea's Coast Guard said on Tuesday that it carried out an emergency exercise near the Ieodo research station south of Jeju Island. The exercise took place near the Ieodo Ocean Research Station, located 150 kilometers south of the resort island, and within the country's exclusive economic zone, authorities said. Coast Guard cutters from Jeju and Seogwipo were used in the exercise that aim...