Cabinet approves govt. plan to ink military info-sharing pact with Thailand

South Korea's Cabinet approved the government's plan to clinch a military intelligence-sharing pact with Thailand on Tuesday to enhance defense cooperation with the Southeast Asian country.The approval, at a Cabinet meeting hosted by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, is aimed at building an institutional framework to exchange military secrets between the two nations. So far, South Korea has clinched the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with 21 countries, including the United

Aug. 27, 2019

Defense chief vows staunch readiness

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo vowed Monday to maintain a staunch readiness posture for North Korean provocations as Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions with projectile launches even after South Korea and the United States ended joint exercises.  "North Korea has heightened military tensions by firing a series of short-range projectiles and making verbal attacks against the South," he said during a speech at the first World Congress of Security Studies hosted by Korea Nati

Aug. 26, 2019

[Newsmaker] S. Korea wraps up expanded military drills for Dokdo

South Korea wrapped up a military exercise on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo in the East Sea on Monday after conducting the biannual maneuvers on the largest-ever scale amid an escalating row with Japan.The two-day exercise, the first of this year's two regular drills, involved all three services of the armed forces as well as the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard in a show of Seoul's determination not to back down in the row with Japan over wartime history and trade.The number of tro

Aug. 26, 2019

[Newsmaker] S. Korea launches Dokdo defense drill amid tension with Japan

The South Korean armed forces launched a two-day military exercise to defend the easternmost islets of Dokdo on Sunday amid growing tensions over trade and their shared history, in a show of its staunch defense stance against Japan's repeated claims to sovereignty over the cluster of rocks in the East Sea.The Navy announced that the drill involves Navy, Air Force and Army forces, such as naval warships and aircraft, as well as Army and Marine Corp troops."Indeed, it's an exercise to guard o

Aug. 25, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae says it never used Japan's intel in analyzing NK missiles under Moon

South Korea never used Japan's intelligence in analyzing North Korea's missile launches under the current Moon Jae-in administration, a senior official at the presidential office said Saturday, amid concerns over possible limits in countering the North's threats with the termination of an intel-sharing deal between Seoul and Tokyo. The official made the remark after North Korea fired two projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea earlier in the day, marking the s

Aug. 24, 2019

S. Korea mulling further delay of Dokdo defense drills

South Korea is considering determining when to conduct maritime drills on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo after watching whether Japan will take the South off a list of trusted trading partners as planned next week, an official said Saturday.The drills, involving the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard, have been held twice a year, usually in June and December, to better fend off possible foreign infiltrations to the rocky outcroppings and the surrounding waters.But this year's

Aug. 24, 2019

NSC members express 'strong concern' about N. Korea's launch of projectiles

South Korea's top security officials voiced "strong concern" Saturday over North Korea's continued launch of projectiles despite the end of its combined military training with the United States.They urged the North to halt such acts of escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula during an emergency session of the National Security Council standing committee, Cheong Wa Dae said.Its members began the meeting at 8:30 a.m., presided over by Chung Eui-yong, chief of the presidentia

Aug. 24, 2019

N. Korea fires unidentified projectiles into East Sea: JCS

North Korea fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Saturday, South Korea's military said, ratcheting up tensions even after the end of a joint military exercise between the South and the United States.The projectiles were fired at 6:45 a.m. and 7:02 a.m. from the eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea, and both flew around 380 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 97 km and a top speed of around Mach 6.5, according to t

Aug. 24, 2019

Scrapping GSOMIA raises questions about intel-sharing capability, alliance with US

The South Korean government is attempting to ease concerns that the country’s decision to abandon a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan will weaken its alliance with the US and cooperation in fending off North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. Following Cheong Wa Dae’s announcement Thursday that the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan would be scrapped, the presidential office and related ministries here on Friday stressed that the allianc

Aug. 23, 2019

[Breaking] S. Korea to scrap military info-sharing pact with Japan

South Korea announced its decision Thursday to ditch a bilateral agreement with Japan on exchanging classified military information, citing a "grave change" in security cooperation conditions attributable to Japan's export restrictions.   Seoul plans to inform Tokyo of the measure before the Aug. 24 deadline via a diplomatic channel, according to Kim You-geun, deputy director of South Korea's presidential national security office.   The government concluded that it

Aug. 22, 2019

Allies could begin negotiations on defense cost sharing as early as mid-Sept.: official

South Korea and the United States could launch negotiations on sharing the cost for the upkeep of American troops here as early as the middle of next month, an official at Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.The allies have been bracing for the negotiations on how much Seoul will pay next year for the stationing of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK), as this year's Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a defense cost-sharing deal, is set to expire at the end of this year. "I predict th

Aug. 22, 2019

Defense minister dismisses N. Korea’s taunts, highlights strong defense posture

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said it was not worth listening to North Korea’s criticism of South Korea’s joint military exercises with the United States, and vowed that defense posture would remain strong. At a parliamentary defense committee meeting, Jeong also spoke of the usefulness of the controversial military intel-sharing agreement with Japan. “(The North) is using vulgar words (to criticize us), but I do not feel it is worth responding to its words one by one,&rdqu

Aug. 21, 2019

S. Korea, US wrap up summertime combined exercise

South Korea and the United States wrapped up their weekslong combined military exercises on Tuesday, raising hopes for a halt in a series of missile launches by North Korea and a possible resumption of nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang.The North has strongly bristled at the Combined Command Post Training and Crisis Management Staff Training, ratcheting up tensions with six rounds of missile or projectile launches and bellicose rhetoric over about three weeks."We've wrapped up t

Aug. 20, 2019

[Feature] Seoul takes time mulling renewal of military intel-sharing pact with Japan

Nearly six decades have passed since South Korea and Japan signed a treaty to normalize diplomatic ties in 1965, but their relationship has been fraught since then with continued bitterness over the history of Korea’s colonization. Now, as the relationship of the “frenemies” hits a new low with a budding trade war, Seoul has hinted at scrapping a military intel-sharing pact with Tokyo. But while South Koreans are unified in denouncing Japan’s increased controls on ex

Aug. 20, 2019

[Newsmaker] Panel confirms widespread use of humidifier disinfectants in military

Humidifier disinfectants, suspected to have been a cause for at least dozens of deaths, were widely used in military barracks and hospitals in the early 2000s, a state-funded agency revealed Monday, raising speculation that a large number of service members could have been exposed to the chemicals.The Special Commission on Social Disaster Investigation said it has confirmed 12 institutions affiliated with the Army, Navy, Air Force and units under the defense ministry had purchased more than 800

Aug. 19, 2019

Details for Dokdo defense drills yet to be fixed: ministry

South Korea is still reviewing the timing and the scale of semiannual maritime defense drills to be held on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo, the defense ministry said Monday.This year's drills have been pushed back amid an escalating trade row with Japan stemming from differences over wartime forced labor. South Korea usually stages the drills in June and Dec. to better defend the rocky outcroppings and the surrounding waters.Japan, which has made territorial claims to Dokdo, has prot

Aug. 19, 2019

Little progress in coming up with alternative service for conscientious objectors

Over a year has passed since the Constitutional Court addressed the need to come up with an alternative form of service for conscientious objectors, but little progress has been made at the National Assembly.According to the Military Manpower Administration on Sunday, as of late July 498 people had submitted applications to defer enlistment, citing religious beliefs. Previously, the authorities had uniformly charged conscientious objectors under the Military Service Act. But since the Constituti

Aug. 18, 2019

US official to visit Seoul for defense cost-sharing deal before official negotiations begin

Timothy Betts, acting deputy assistant secretary and senior adviser for security negotiations and agreements, will visit Seoul this week to discuss the defense cost-sharing pact, sources said Sunday.Betts, who led the US negotiation team for the 10th defense cost-sharing agreement, will meet with Chang Won-sam, his South Korean counterpart, on Tuesday. Details on the venue and time of the closed-door meeting have not been revealed, but it may be held at a location other than the Foreign Ministry

Aug. 18, 2019

Seoul yet to decide on sending Cheonghae Unit to Strait of Hormuz

The Ministry of National Defense Ministry said Thursday that it has not yet decided on sending the anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit to the Strait of Hormuz in response to Washington’s request to forge a coalition against Iran’s military activities amid heightened tensions with Tehran.“Sending (Cheonghae Unit) to the Strait of Hormuz has not been decided. … We are considering various ways to protect our vessels in the area, and are closely observing the situation,” the mi

Aug. 15, 2019

S. Korea to acquire more anti-missile radars, interceptors to counter NK threats

South Korea plans to add two more ground-based anti-missile early warning radars and build three Aegis-equipped destroyers in the next five years in an effort to better detect and intercept incoming missiles from North Korea, the defense ministry said Wednesday.The plan was one of the key projects that the ministry unveiled in its five-year defense blueprint for 2020-2024 amid heightened concerns about North Korea's missile capabilities in the wake of a series of test-firings of what Pyongyang c

Aug. 14, 2019