Attention is being drawn to whether there would be any U.S. troop drawdown here on the Korean Peninsula should the U.S. slash its defense budget as part of a deficit reduction plan. As U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is to come here for the annual South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting slated for Friday, speculations abound that discussions over it could take place. The U.S. defense...

BALI, Indonesia, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- Making his first trip to Asia as U.S. defense chief, Leon Panetta sought to dispel concern that Washington's plan to slash its defense budget in the coming years would diminish its military presence and operations in Asia. "Our goal is to try to strengthen the alliances that are there and to try to ensure that we build new partnerships to try to improve the s...

Another senior military worker was found to have collaborated in a recent hacking incident, officials at the Defense Ministry said Thursday, fueling speculation that military operatives have illegally monitored civilians. Military investigators also arrested an Army warrant officer on Tuesday, on suspicion of directing two subordinates to hack into emails of a professor at Chosun University in t...

MUNICH/MADRID (Yonhap News) -- With South Korea scheduled to select the winner of its project for 60 new fighter jets next fall, the European consortium of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft has offered to fully share its technology with its South Korean partners. Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain are partners in the development and production of the Typhoon, with their consortium of Cassidian, a subs...

The national budget to protect defense systems against cyber attacks has been increased for next year amid increasing threats, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that the budget allocated for defending defense information for next year has been pegged at 25.8 billion won ($22.4 million), an increase of 8.6 percent from this year. It said 15 billion won will be s...

South Korea’s inter-government task force to better deal with crimes by American soldiers will hold its first meeting this week, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The task force, consisting of senior officials from the foreign ministry, police, the defense ministry and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, was formed last week amid brewing public outrage after two United States soldier...

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is developing a new type of aircraft that can take off and land vertically to conduct reconnaissance missions, Seoul's top procurement official said Monday. Noh Dae-rae, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said at a local seminar that South Korea is developing a tilt-rotor type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which has the same ...

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Han Min-koo will participate in the annual conference of top military officers from the Asia-Pacific region this week in Hawaii to discuss regional military issues, officials said Sunday. Before joining the Chiefs of Defense meeting from Tuesday to Thursday, Han will visit Gen. Ryoichi Oriki, Japan’s chief of joint self-defense force on Monday at his ...

More than 200 low-ranking commissioned and non-commissioned officers have committed suicide since 2000, a local civic group said Tuesday, calling for immediate measures to alleviate mental and physical stress in the military. Citing a recent Defense Ministry report, the Center for Military Human Rights said that the number of officers who took their own lives between 2000 and 2011 was 111 in the...

The state military acquisition agency will expand a corruption report system to allow non-employees to file a report, officials said. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said that it will allow ordinary citizens to report corruption cases through the internet starting from Wednesday. It also plans to offer up to 20 million won ($17,167) in rewards to those who file reports. DAPA has ...

South Korea and the U.S. will discuss ways to strengthen Seoul’s preliminary investigation authority to better deal with cases involving U.S. military personnel during their meeting next month, a Foreign Ministry official said Monday. The move comes as the public anger here has been rising in the wake of a recent string of sex crimes committed by U.S. soldiers. Next month, the two sides are con...