Defense ministry vows full support for Seoul air show

South Korea's defense ministry said Thursday it has signed a partnership agreement with the organizers of a Seoul air show to be held later this year.The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, or Seoul ADEX, is scheduled to take place at Seoul Airport, a military compound south of the capital, from Oct. 17-22. Visitors look around weapons on display at the 2015 Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition at the Seoul Airport. (Yonhap)The biennial international event sets the

April 27, 2017

[From the Scene] Allies demonstrate massive show of force at joint live-fire exercise

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The exercise began with a bang from explosives being fired off near a ditch. Taking it as a cue for the North Korean Army’s hypothetical invasion, South Korea’s K-9 and K-55 self-propelled guns, as well as multiple rocket launchers, fired off dozens of volleys toward mock targets. The artillery attack was immediately followed by multiple sorties of F-15K and FA-50 jet fighters, which scrambled from the east and dropped bombs on dummy targets designed as North Korea’

April 26, 2017

US moves to deploy key parts of THAAD

The US Forces Korea on Wednesday brought launchers, a radar and other key parts of its advanced missile defense system to its deployment site, in a surprise move to accelerate the process ahead of a presidential election here amid heightened tension on the peninsula. Some 20 trailers carrying key components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system arrived at the site at dawn in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Although covered by plastic boxes and wrapping, they were believed to incl

April 26, 2017

THAAD equipment installation underway amid residents' protests

US troops in South Korea began installing the equipment for an advanced missile defense system at a site in a southeastern region of the country, facing fierce protests from local residents.The overnight, unannounced operation came just six days after US Forces Korea secured the land in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, from the South Korean government. A joint environmental survey required under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement is not done yet, according to officials.(Yonhap)The allie

April 26, 2017

Korean military to buy two more anti-ballistic missile radars

South Korea said Tuesday it has decided to purchase two advanced early warning radars on incoming ballistic missiles as North Korea's threats have grown.The plan was approved at a regular meeting on arms procurement projects presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Agency.It plans to import the radars in the project starting within this year. The headquarters of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Agency. (Yonhap)The South Korean military

April 25, 2017

USFK reopens Rodriguez range after accident probe

The US military in South Korea said Tuesday it has resumed the operation of its accident-prone shooting range close to the inter-Korean border.The Rodriguez training ground had been out of service since early this month after two big stray bullets from an Eighth Army helicopter-firing drill dropped at a nearby ranch in the latest-known incident. This photo taken in January 2016 shows a US army helicopter in training over the Rodriguez training ground in Pocheon, north of Seoul. (Yonhap)No one wa

April 25, 2017

US strategic assets scramble to Korean Peninsula

The United States military staged a massive show of force against North Korea by deploying its strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, as North Korea marked a major holiday amid mounting multilateral pressure on the regime’s nuclear ambition. The nuclear-powered USS Michigan made a call at the Port of Busan in time for the 85th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean People‘s Army. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is also heading toward the East Sea to join

April 25, 2017

US 8th Army starts base relocation by commemorating Gen. Walker

American troops in Seoul kicked off their full-fledged relocation Tuesday to a refurbished base south of the capital with a symbolic ceremony to commemorate Gen. Walton H. Walker, a Korean War hero.Standing in front of the 8th Army's headquarters at Yongsan garrison, the 10-foot-tall bronze statue is a token of the US fight against North Korea alongside South Korea in the 1950-53 conflict and their decades-old alliance.The US Eighth Army hosts the Gen. Walker Monument Transition Ceremony in fron

April 25, 2017

Korea, US to hold joint naval drills

South Korea's Navy said Tuesday it will hold a joint live-fire exercise with the US in the Yellow Sea later in the day to show their close alliance against North Korea.It will involve the Navy's 4,400-ton destroyer Wanggeon and the USS Wayne E. Meyer, a Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the US Navy. A joint South Korea-US naval drill in the Yellow Sea. (Yonhap)They are scheduled to stage a combined tactical operation and live-fire drill, according to the Navy.The allies also plan t

April 25, 2017

USFK chief says allies ready to counter N. Korea's provocations

Top American military commanders here on Tuesday emphasized the strength of the alliance with South Korea, as North Korea's military apparently staged its largest-ever live-fire drills along its east coast on the occasion of the founding anniversary of its armed forces."We just stand ready. That's the only message we have (to North Korea)," Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the commander of US Forces Korea, said. "We are committed to the ROK (South Korea)-US alliance. That's the most important thing. That

April 25, 2017

USS submarine set to join USS Carl Vinson in drills near Korea

A US submarine is set to join the USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, South Korean military officials said Monday."The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan will enter the waters off the peninsula soon or later to jointly conduct drills with the USS Carl Vinson," a military official told Yonhap News Agency. USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier (Yonhap)The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive in the East Sea later in the week amid growing nuclear an

April 25, 2017

S. Korea develops counter-battery radar against N. Korea

South Korea announced Monday it has developed an advanced artillery-locating radar to help counter North Korea's rocket threats more effectively.The mobile radar system, called "counter-artillery detection radar-II," will be operational starting in 2018, according to the country's arms procurement agency. A prototype of South Korea's new counter-battery radar. (Defense Acquisition Program Administration)"In recent tests it met all of the required operational capabilities of the military. It has

April 24, 2017

Korea preps for joint exercise with USS Carl Vinson

South Korea's defense authorities said Monday the USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier, is scheduled to hold a joint training exercise with South Korean naval ships near the peninsula."Consultations are under way (between the two sides) in connection with the exercise," Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said at a press briefing. He did not elaborate.The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (US Navy)He did not elaborate amid speculation that the drills will be

April 24, 2017

Carl Vinson to arrive in East Sea in days: Pence

US Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that his country's aircraft carrier could arrive in the East Sea within days amid high tensions with North Korea.Pence, who is visiting Australia, said in a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson is expected to be in waters east of the Korean peninsula no later than this month, according to Australian media. Earlier, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported

April 22, 2017

Korea joins multilateral anti-piracy exercise in Gulf of Aden

South Korea has participated in a multilateral naval exercise involving US, Japanese and British forces to crack down on Somali pirates around the Gulf of Aden, the military here said Friday.South Korea sent the 4,400-ton destroyer Choe Yeong to the Thursday drills, which also involved the 17,000-ton US dock landing ship USS Carter Hall, Japan's 5,000-ton destroyer Teruzuki and the 4,200-ton British frigate Monmouth, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Vessels of South Korea, the US, Japan a

April 21, 2017

Korea to open community center for Ethiopian war veterans

South Korea's defense ministry said Friday it has signed an agreement with Ethiopia to construct a community center in Addis Ababa for its nationals who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War.It's one of Seoul's friendship projects for the people of Ethiopia, the only African country that dispatched ground troops to help South Korea fight against invading North Korea during the conflict. Hwang Woo-ung (2nd from right), South Korea's deputy defense minister for welfare, poses for a photo with Abate Sit

April 21, 2017

Korea, US complete land provision process for THAAD deployment

South Korea and the United States completed the regulatory process needed for Seoul’s provision of a base site for a US missile defense battery, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.A bilateral committee on the status of US Forces Korea approved the plan for land transfer, allowing the US military to begin work for the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in the some 300,000-square-meter land in the southeastern county of Seongju. The land was formerly owned by a Lotte Group

April 20, 2017

US sends nuclear sniffer plane to Korea: source

The US Air Force dispatched a nuclear sniffer aircraft Thursday to the east of the Korean Peninsula amid the possibility of North Korea's imminent nuclear test, a government source said."The WC-135 Constant Phoenix, a special-purpose US plane, made an emergency sortie today over the East Sea," the source said, requesting anonymity.The US Air Force's WC-135 Constant Phoenix sniffer plane (Yonhap)Its mission is to collect samples from the atmosphere in order to detect and identity a nuclear explos

April 20, 2017

Korea, US field 100 aircraft in joint drill

More than 100 South Korean and US warplanes have joined an annual combined defense exercise under way on the peninsula, South Korea's Air Force said Thursday.The Max Thunder training, which started on April 14 for a two-week run, also involves around 1,200 troops, including some American personnel stationed in Japan.South Korea has dispatched F-15K, KF-16, FA-50, F-4E and F-5 fighter jets, as well as C-130 cargo and E-737 airborne early warning and control aircraft. A F-16 fighter jet of the US

April 20, 2017

Korea to hold anti-piracy drill

South Korea will hold an anti-piracy drill in waters off the southern coast ahead of the dispatch of a 4,500-ton destroyer to Somalia, the maritime ministry said Thursday. South Korea Navy's Daejoyoung destroyer. (Yonhap)Taking place on Friday, the one-day drill will involve the South Korean destroyer Daejoyoung, a 17,000-ton commercial vessel and 350 seamen and sailors, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Next month, the warship will join the South Korean naval unit which has been

April 20, 2017