The U.S. military is expected to move one of its operational Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries from Texas to South Korea to better counter Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats, local sources said Sunday.Government sources said Washington is considering moving a battery from Fort Bliss to Seongju by late 2017 as part of an agreement with Seoul. The move will involve the deployment of the AN/TPY-2 radar and associated equipment, a command and communications unit, an

Oct. 2, 2016

South Korea's Navy said Saturday it recovered the fuselage of a helicopter that crashed into the sea off the country's east coast earlier this week during joint drills with the United States.The fuselage of the Lynx helicopter was found at about 3:13 p.m., and will be moved to a military base in Jinhae, 410 km south of Seoul, for investigation to figure out the cause of the crash, according to the Navy. A Navy official said that it has not yet been confirmed whether the chopper's flight data and

Oct. 2, 2016

South Korea's cyber command established to counter external hacking attempts on the country's military was found to have been hacked last month, a lawmaker said Saturday, raising speculation that North Korea might be behind the latest cyber attack. Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, a lawmaker of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, told Yonhap News Agency in a telephone interview that the hacking targeted the "vaccine routing server" installed at the cyber command. Kim is a member of the parliament's nati

Oct. 1, 2016

South Korea's Navy will build a speedier transport vessel in the next three years to counter growing threats from North Korea along the tense maritime border, a military official familiar with the matter said Thursday. "The plan is part of the government's efforts to beef up preparedness and combat capabilities against relentless provocations from the North along the tense sea border with North Korea," the official told Yonhap News Agency. Starting from 2020, the Navy aims to deploy the new high

Sept. 29, 2016

The United States intends to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea "on an accelerated basis" and "as soon as possible," given the ever-growing missile threats from North Korea, the top US diplomat on Asia said Tuesday.Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel made the remark during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, stressing it's important to upgrade defensive systems to cope with the North Korean threats."I can't speak as assistan

Sept. 28, 2016

A South Korean Navy helicopter crashed into the East Sea during a joint maritime drill between South Korea and the United States, the Navy said Monday.The Linx helicopter crashed into the East Sea at around 9:05 p.m., and a search is currently under way, the Navy said. Three soldiers were on board, it added.The ill-fated chopper was participating in the combined maritime exercise in the East Sea as part of a show of force against North Korea's provocations. (Yonhap)

Sept. 27, 2016

A B-1B strategic bomber returned to its base in Guam on Sunday after a short stay in South Korea that aimed to warn North Korea against any further provocations, military officials said Monday."The B-1B Lancer returned to Andersen Air Base last night after remaining at Osan Air Base since Wednesday in a show of force against the North's latest nuclear test," a defense ministry official told Yonhap News Agency. Pyongyang conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 9 despite intern

Sept. 26, 2016

President Park Geun-hye on Friday met with Lim Ki-tack, the South Korean chief of a UN maritime body, to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation on an array of issues, including North Korea's provocations that destabilize maritime security.During her meeting with Lim, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, Park was expected to highlight that Pyongyang's unannounced launch of missiles and its disruptions of Global Positioning System signals would seriously unde

Sept. 23, 2016

Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans support the country's development of its own nuclear weapons, a poll showed Friday, amid the rising calls among hawkish lawmakers for Seoul to consider the aggressive option to curb Pyongyang's provocations.According to the data compiled by pollster Gallup Korea, 58 percent of the respondents agreed with South Korea's nuclear armament scenario, while 34 percent expressed an opposition. The study was conducted on 1,010 South Koreans throughout the country this w

Sept. 23, 2016

South Korea will redesign the parts of its Surion helicopter which recently failed to pass an extreme climate performance that would allow it to be sold to more customers around the world, the military and manufacturer said Friday.In a months-long test conducted in the United States, the Surion utility helicopter failed to operate properly under a set of very challenging humid and freezing temperatures. Several parts in Surion didn't meet the international standard, an official at the Korea Aero

Sept. 23, 2016

The United States does not discuss any preemptive strike plans in advance, the White House said Thursday in response to a question whether President Barack Obama has any airstrike plans against the North."Just in general, not specifically to North Korea, as an operational matter we're not going to discuss any preemptive military actions in advance," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a regular press briefing after a reporter asked if Obama has "any particular plans for the North Ko

Sept. 23, 2016

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B strategic bombers this week made the closest-ever flight to North Korea to warn the communist country against any further provocations, the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) said Thursday.North Korea conducted its fifth underground nuclear test on Sept. 9, despite international condemnations and sanctions imposed after the previous nuke detonation in January. The latest provocation came on the heels of the launch of three ballistic missiles four days earlier.   One of the tw

Sept. 22, 2016