An Army staff sergeant who lost both legs in the North Korean landmine attack in early August was discharged from the hospital Tuesday after five months of treatment and rehabilitation that has enabled him to use prosthetic limbs.Twenty-one-year-old Staff Sgt. Hah Jae-hun was conducting a patrol mission on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone when landmines buried by North Korea exploded and maimed him and another soldier on Aug. 4.  The landmine attack, followed by North Korean artil

Dec. 29, 2015

South Korea's arms procurement agency inked Monday its formal agreement with the country's sole aircraft maker, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), to undertake an ambitious project to build indigenous fighter jets.   "With the signing of the contract with KAI on Monday, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration will officially set about the fighter jet development project," DAPA said in a statement.   The project will take 10 years and six months before completing the developmental phas

Dec. 28, 2015

Marine Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-hoon instructed his troops to maintain tight combat readiness as he inspected the defense postures of the two frontline islands facing North Korea on Monday.The commander visited Marine Corps units on the western border islands of Maldo and Udo along the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime demarcation between the two Koreas, earlier in the day, according to the Marine Corps. "Udo and Maldo are something akin to the point of a sword in the Marine Co

Dec. 28, 2015

The military has developed the technology to diagnose Brucellosis and the Ebola virus in the early stages of infection, a major step forward in boosting biodefense capabilities, the military said Monday.A medical center under the Armed Forces Medical Command has secured the technology using real-time polymerase chain reaction to detect the two viruses which are high-risk pathogens that can be weaponized in biological warfare.The medical command patented diagnostic kits created with the detection

Dec. 28, 2015

South Korea's state arms procurement agency said Thursday it will sign a formal contract next week on its fighter jet development project, known as KF-X.The Defense Acquisition Procurement Administration plans to ink the deal with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the country's sole aircraft maker."Negotiations over the formal contract on the KF-X program are going well. It seems to be possible to sign it around Dec. 28," the agency official said on the condition of anonymity.South Korea hopes to

Dec. 24, 2015

The Air Force will reorganize its hitherto geographically arranged command structure into a function-based one to enhance efficiency in peacetime and wartime aerial operations, officials said Tuesday.The plan was endorsed at the Cabinet meeting, which was presided over by President Park Geun-hye.Under the plan, the Air Force Operations Command will have two major subordinate units -- the Air Combat Command and the Air Mobility & Reconnaissance Command, whose roles are divided by combat role, rat

Dec. 22, 2015

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lee Sun-jin on Tuesday instructed frontline commanders to maintain tight combat readiness, citing the possibility of North Korea's unexpected military provocations."Around-the-clock operational readiness should be maintained so that we can automatically and powerfully react if the North Korean military launches sudden provocations," he was quoted as saying by the JCS during his visits to the First Army Command."If the enemy launches another provocation, they should

Dec. 22, 2015

South Korea said Monday it was looking into the pilot-related system of its T-50 trainer aircraft following the crash of a jet in Indonesia over the weekend.Two pilots were killed in a crash on Sunday of the plane South Korea exported to Indonesia, during an air show celebrating the 70th anniversary of Indonesia's flight school in Yogyakarta, a tourist city on the main island of Java. While the Indonesian defense ministry is investigating the cause of the crash, South Korea is conducting its own

Dec. 21, 2015

South Korea will push to expand civilian supervision of the defense procurement industry, the Defense Ministry said Monday, in a major bid to reform the corruption-prone sector.Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee is to stand trial on corruption charges in connection with the military's acquisition of AW159 Wildcat helicopters.Choi is among current and retired military officials indicted by a special investigative team on graft cases involving arms dealings. The task force was lau

Dec. 21, 2015

South Korea and the United States held high-level talks on global disarmament and nonproliferation issues in Washington on Thursday, officials said.The two allies have held such talks annually since 2013 to strengthen cooperation on global issues.Thursday's meeting was led by Shin Dong-ik, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs, and Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. under secretary of state for arms control and international security.Key topics included the North Korean

Dec. 18, 2015

The commanding general of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, was named as assistant chief of staff of U.S. Forces Korea, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.  The appointment of Maj. Gen. Michael Bills to the new job came as some 4,500 troops from the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team are preparing to deploy to South Korea early next year as part of a regular rotation of forces.  The troops will replace the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team that was deployed in Ju

Dec. 16, 2015

South Korea and the United States held talks in Washington to discuss ways to expand maritime cooperation between the two close trading partners, the government said Tuesday.  The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said the working level talks touched on the need to expand information on maritime policies, allowing U.S. car carriers greater access to South Korean cargo, and guidelines issued by U.S. port state control authorities.  The PSC is tasked with checking foreign ships to make certain they

Dec. 15, 2015

South Korea launched on Tuesday its second next-generation landing vessel with upgraded mobility that will be deployed for operations in 2017, the Navy said.  The second edition LST-II, the Cheonjabong, is 4,900 tons and capable of sailing up to 23 knots at full speed, with the service of 120 crew members, according to the Navy.   The vessel, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, is capable of delivering about 300 fully armed landing forces and carrying landing boats, tanks and two helicopters, the

Dec. 15, 2015

A conflict on the Korean Peninsula will no longer be limited to the peninsula as North Korea has developed ballistic missile, cyber and other capabilities, the top American military official said Monday.  Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford made the remark during a defense conference, stressing that the U.S. should be prepared to fight "trans-regional, multi-domain and multi-functional" conflicts.  "If you would have thought about the Korean Peninsula some years ago, you would hav

Dec. 15, 2015

The United States troops stationed in South Korea will move its current headquarters in central Seoul to the southern city of Pyeongtaek by the end of 2017, one year later than initially planned, the commander of the Eighth U.S. Army and a South Korean official said.  The U.S. Forces Korea and South Korea are currently in the process of relocating U.S. troops based in Seoul and north of Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, located 70 kilometers southeast of the capital.  Maj

Dec. 13, 2015

Construction of fuel storage bunkers at North Korea's rocket launch site appear to be near completion as a three-year project to expand the site draws to an end, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday.Commercial satellite imagery taken of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the North's northwest from October through late November indicates that construction of new propellant (fuel/oxidizer) bunkers continues and is nearing completion, 38 North said in a report."With the upgrade program ne

Dec. 10, 2015