South Korea and the United States are not considering the deployment of an additional THAAD anti-missile system here, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday amid a heated debate on the issue rekindled ahead of the March 9 presidential election. Boo Seung-chan, the ministry spokesperson, made the remarks, following a media report that a government-commissioned research in 2015 noted the need for So...

South Korea's military plans to bolster antivirus measures at boot camps amid a growing number of COVID-19 infections among service members, the defense ministry said Friday. The military reported 298 additional COVID-19 cases Friday, more than doubling from the previous day, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,490. Defense Minister Suh Wook held a video-linked meeting ...

The US Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday its THAAD anti-missile system installed in South Korea is a "safe and reliable" asset, as a political debate has been rekindled here over the ideologically sensitive matter in the run-up to the March 9 presidential election. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has emerged as a hot-button issue during the election season, as Yoon Suk-yeol,...

South Korea's Army has received the first batch of new homegrown 120-mm self-propelled mortar systems to replace existing decades-old mortars, the state arms procurement agency said Friday. The latest systems will supplant the Army's aging 4.2-inch mortars that have been in service for more than 40 years, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Under a deployment pro...

South Korea's military on Friday reported 298 additional COVID-19 cases, more than doubling from the previous day, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,490. The new cases included 195 from the Army, 43 from the Air Force, 19 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, 15 from the Navy, and 12 from the Marine Corps. There were also four cases from the min...

South Korea's military on Thursday reported 136 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,192. The new cases included 70 from the Army, 24 from the Air Force, 20 from the Navy, eight from the Marine Corps, 11 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and three from the ministry. Currently, 1,175 military personnel are under treatme...

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 144 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,056. The new cases included 90 from the Army, 23 from the Air Force, 11 from the Navy, 11 from the Marine Corps, one Joint Chiefs of Staff member and one from the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command. There were also four cases from units under the direct co...

Actor Park Bo-gum, currently serving in South Korea's Navy, has passed a state exam to become a licensed barber, military officials said Wednesday. Park, who has been fulfilling his mandatory military service since 2020, took the exam last month, the officials said. He is currently stationed in the Gyeryongdae military headquarters, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Park is set to complete his mil...

N. Korea’s mounting threats increase necessity of preemptive plan

South Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) defense technologies for speech, image and voice recognition are assessed to be about a year behind those of the United States, a state research institute said Wednesday. The Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT) made the assessment as it unveiled a broad road map for the use of AI technologies in the defense se...

North Korea fired two suspected cruise missiles from an inland area Tuesday morning, its fifth weapons test this year. “North Korea is presumed to launch two cruise missiles this morning,” a South Korean military official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “The missiles are estimated to have traveled mostly inland although further analysis is needed,” the military official said, adding t...

South Korea's military on Friday reported 66 additional COVID-19 cases, including 53 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,828. Of the new cases, 57 are from the Army, five from the Air Force, one from the Navy and three from units under the direct control of the defense ministry. The Army infection count included 17 service members and trainees at a boot ...

South Korea's military is set to ship COVID-19 treatment pills to three overseas units Friday following virus outbreaks there, officials here said. Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral pills will be sent by air to the contingents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Sudan and Lebanon under Thursday's distribution approval by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the officials said. ...

An elite South Korean Navy unit began annual wintertime training Thursday to strengthen its readiness posture for underwater rescue operations, the Navy said. Around 90 members of the Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit (SSU) kicked off the three-day training session in waters off Jinhae, 410 kilometers south of Seoul, focusing on underwater search and related operations. The training session included ...

South Korea's military on Thursday reported 35 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,762. Of the new cases, 27 are from the Army, five from the Air Force, two from the Navy and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry. Currently, 299 military personnel are under treatment. Of the tot...