Message to S. Korea, US Hong took note that North Korea sought to “intentionally disclose” the revision of an operational plan and military reorganization in an attempt to send an external message mainly to South Korea and the United States. “This seems to be the counteraction to the recent moves by South Korea and the United States to reinforce the US extended deterrence and step up combined m...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened the first meeting of the Central Military Commission in one year to discuss and decide on “crucial and urgent tasks” to bolster its military, the state media reported Wednesday. The third enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea kicked off Tuesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. The first an...

South Korea’s Unification Minister will push to expeditiously establish a North Korean human rights foundation which has been postponed for more than six years, but he also clarified that the government will not use the human rights issue as a means to apply pressure on the Kim Jong-un regime. Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Tuesday proposed the priority issues he aims to resolve during hi...

South Korea’s air force on Monday kicked off a large-scale aerial military exercise to enhance combat readiness and prepare for possible “enemy provocations,” including a surprise invasion. The theater-level “Soaring Eagle” combat training exercise is being staged over five days through Friday at the 29th Tactical Fighter Weapons Group located at an air base in the central city of Cheongju, Nort...

US supports Japan’s rearmament The US policy coordinator for the Indo-Pacific also conspicuously expressed endorsement of Japan’s move toward rearming, pointing out that Japan has become “responsibly engaged in the Indo-Pacific.” “Japan has been deeply committed to peace and stability in Asia, and in the Indo-Pacific,” Campbell said when asked how he sees the rearmament of both Japan and German...

North Korea appears to be at work to reactivate another unused tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, and has completed preparations for an oft-speculated nuclear test in Tunnel No. 3, a Washington-based think tank said Wednesday. Commercial satellite images acquired Tuesday show new indications of construction activity below the entrance to Tunnel No. 4 at the nuclear test site in Pungg...

$640 million in nuclear spending The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, on Tuesday also said the “nine nuclear-armed states” spent more funding on developing and producing nuclear weapons last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic in its report, “Squandered: 2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending.” The nuclear-weapon states refer to the United States, China, Russia, the Unit...

South Korea’s Navy will join a Pacific Dragon multilateral ballistic missile defense exercise and separately conduct a live-fire drill to test the ability and performance of surface-to-air missile interceptors. The two separate military drills will be staged during the US-led biennial Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, exercise, multiple South Korean military officials, who wished to remain anonymou...

Further trilateral actions despite limitations The three defense chiefs also agreed to “identify further trilateral actions” to cope with North Korean threats. The options include trilateral exercises such as counter-terrorism exercises, Search and Rescue Exercises (SAREX) and anti-submarine warfare exercises that have been suspended in the wake of the military dispute between Seoul and Tokyo s...

SINGAPORE -- South Korea, Japan and the US on Saturday agreed to regularize and publicize trilateral missile defense exercises and come up with further trilateral actions to deter North Korea’s ballistic missile threats. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup had the 50-minute trilateral talks with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi at noon local ti...

SINGAPORE -- The South Korean and the US defense chiefs on Saturday agreed to flesh out their plans to step up combined military exercises and enhance the viability of the US extended deterrence against North Korea’s mounting threats. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup had his first in-person encounter with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the morning on the sidelines of the three-da...

N.Korea’s missile and nuclear threats The South Korean and Chinese defense ministers also discussed the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and the North Korean nuclear issue. “Minister Lee underscored the necessity for both South Korea and China to work together to ensure that North Korea recognizes the benefits of abandoning nuclear weapons outweigh the costs of posse...

SINGAPORE -- The South Korean and Canadian defense chiefs on Friday discussed North Korean threats, their envisioned Indo-Pacific strategies and bilateral defense cooperation at a critical juncture, as Canada has called for South Korea to lend support to fill its depleted weapons stock sent to Ukraine. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand held a 30-...

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s North Korea policy and Indo-Pacific strategy will be revealed at the Shangri-La Dialogue, where Seoul’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup will seek closer cooperation with the US and other aligned nations. The international event will serve as the stage for Lee’s first bilateral and trilateral meetings with defense chiefs -- including those of Japan and the US -- w...

As the possibility of a nuclear test rises, South Korea and the US on Tuesday conducted the combined air force drills and showcased their combat readiness in another tit-for-tat show of force matching North Korea’s continuing ballistic missile launches. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the allies “staged the air power demonstration in response to North Korea’s continuing ballistic missil...