U.S. House resolution calls for stronger 3-way security cooperation with Korea, Japan

A U.S. House lawmaker has introduced a resolution calling for stronger trilateral cooperation between the U.S. and its Asian allies, South Korea and Japan, to counter North Korean threats and ensure regional security.Rep. Matt Salmon introduced the bipartisan resolution last week, together with seven co-sponsors, including Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to congressional records."The House of Representatives reaffirms the importance of the United States-

March 8, 2016

Korea, U.S. begin largest-ever military drills on striking N.K. leadership

South Korea and the United States kicked off their largest-ever annual joint military exercises on Monday with a special focus on bolstering the allies' wartime capability to launch precision strikes on North Korea's top leadership, officials said Monday.The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, each a command post-based and field training war game, began their weeks-long schedules amid escalating military tensions between South and North Korea following Pyongyang's nuclear and long-range missil

March 7, 2016

Korea, U.S. to kick off largest-ever joint exercise

South Korea and the United States will launch their largest-ever joint exercise this week to warn North Korea against further provocations, a South Korean military official said Sunday.The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises running from Monday through April 30 will be the largest in scale since Pyongyang's torpedo attack on the South Korean corvette Cheonan in 2010, which is what triggered these annual drills, the official said on the condition of anonymity.This year's exercise will involve mo

March 6, 2016

Prosecutors investigate alleged corruption in arms dealing

Prosecutors launched an investigation into South Korea's arms procurement agency, suspected of forging documents and obtaining defective devices in the process of purchasing surveillance equipment, legal sources said Friday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it is looking into a Defense Acquisition Program Administration's project to establish a complex surveillance system along the country's seashore, the sources said. The system that helps integrate existing radar and thermal

March 4, 2016

Trump would 'pick fights' with S. Korea, Japan if elected: Washington Post

U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, if elected, would "pick fights" with South Korea and Japan over the cost of American troop presence in the allies, the Washington Post said, warning of foreign policy troubles Trump's presidency could bring about."The Trump foreign policy ... is that the United States' long-standing relationships and alliances are stacked against it, and that they must be downgraded, renegotiated or abandoned," the paper said in an editorial, titled "A Pres

March 4, 2016

Parliament passes bill to prescreen airline passengers before flights

South Korea's parliament passed a revised bill to prescreen airline passengers to keep potential terrorists from flying into the country, the government said Thursday.The National Assembly, led by the ruling Saenuri Party, endorsed the revision to the immigration control law Wednesday, which calls for the checking of passenger manifests before airlines issue boarding passes, the Ministry of Justice said in a press release.South Korea has been running a test operation of the prescreening system i

March 3, 2016

China voices opposition to THAAD during U.N. Security Council

China voiced opposition Wednesday to the potential deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system to South Korea during a U.N. Security Council meeting held to adopt a new resolution expanding sanctions on North Korea."China opposes the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system on the Korean peninsula because such an action harms the strategic security interests of China and other countries of the region, goes against the goal of maintaining peace, security, and stability of the peninsula

March 3, 2016

Korea begins 3-day anti-terrorism inspection of key facilities

South Korea kicked off its three-day inspection of airports, harbors and other key facilities on Wednesday to check readiness to counter any North Korean terrorist attack at the public facilities, the military said.The government has repeatedly warned of possible terrorist attacks carried out by North Korea on the South following the communist nation's recent nuclear test and launch of a long-range rocket. The public safety ministry and six other government agencies, the police and the National

March 2, 2016

Navy conducts anti-North exercise near new Jeju base

The Navy conducted its first military exercise near its new base on the southern island of Jeju on Wednesday to improve readiness to intercept suspicious vessels and submarine infiltration by North Korea.The Aegis destroyer Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong and three other Navy and Coast Guard vessels joined the drill which took place in the waters off the newly opened naval base on the south coast of Jeju Island, the Navy said in a statement.One submarine and two seaborne helicopters also took part in the

March 2, 2016

U.S. push to deploy THAAD in S. Korea will continue: Seoul

The United States will remain unchanged in its push to deploy its advanced anti-ballistic missile system known as THAAD in South Korea, a defense ministry official here said Monday.Earlier this month, South Korea and the U.S. launched talks on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, to counter North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile threats.The bilateral negotiations were abruptly put on hold by the U.S. last week without specific reasons, sparking speculations

Feb. 29, 2016

China: Envoy voices opposition to U.S. shield in Seoul

China's chief nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, has voiced the country's opposition to the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea during his meetings with Seoul officials, China's foreign ministry said Monday. Wu, who arrive in South Korea on Sunday, expressed his "solemn position" on the possible deployment of the U.S. missile shield, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, in South Korea, China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.South Ko

Feb. 29, 2016

U.S. to use all possible defense capabilities to safeguard Seoul

The United States is committed to using the full range of its defense capabilities to safeguard South Korea in the event of war with North Korea, a defense ministry official here said Monday after attending a joint defense exercise in California.The allies held their annual anti-nuclear joint exercise at Vandenberg Air Force Base last week where some 40 defense officials from the two countries discussed warfare strategies to counter North Korea's nuclear and weapons of mass destruction threats.

Feb. 29, 2016

Debate heats up over Korea's nuclear armament

A debate is heating up over whether South Korea should pursue nuclear armament after North Korea has fueled security jitters here by conducting a fourth nuclear test last month.Experts and politicians are sharply divided as they contemplate the potential benefits and perils of the South's nuclearization, which they say is bound to reshape the contours of regional politics and security. The Seoul government has said that its vision of a nuclear-free peninsula will remain unchanged with the U.S.'

Feb. 26, 2016