Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Friday that it has made the first delivery of its multi-mission jets to the Philippines, further solidifying its status as an aircraft exporter.  The two FA-50PH took off from Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, to make the 2,482 kilometer "ferry flight" to the Philippines. The pair are expected to arrive at Clark Air Base on Saturday, KAI said.  The ferry flight involves the planes being directly flown to their

Nov. 27, 2015

The Air Force has introduced three-dimensional printing in its production of engine components for fighter jets which helps cut budget and time on maintenance, it said Thursday.  So far this year, 14 of the Air Force's F- 15K fighter jets have been repaired with 3-D printed high-pressure turbine shrouds, an engine component, according to the Air Force.  The engine part originally costs 40 million won ($34,900) per unit and takes about 60 days to procure from abroad,  With the introduction of the

Nov. 26, 2015

A new nuclear treaty between South Korea and the United States will take effect later Wednesday, a government official said.  Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se plans to exchange a related memorandum of understanding with U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert in a ceremony slated for 6 p.m., he added.  In April, the two sides struck the deal to allow Seoul to expand its peaceful nuclear activity. South Korea also left the door open for the possibility of enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclea

Nov. 25, 2015

South Korea’s defense acquisition agency came under fire again Tuesday upon concerns that their plans to secure all technologies from the U.S. this month to develop an indigenous fighter jet may not be feasible on time. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration had said that Washington would give its approval for the export of 21 technologies from Lockheed Martin by early November, and that Washington should do so under a bilateral agreement.But the U.S. requested recently that the two side

Nov. 24, 2015

South Korea is facing a diplomatic dilemma over the clause in its Constitution that treats North Korea as part of its territory, as Japan’s plans for contingencies on the peninsula appear to disregard it.Seoul has argued that as South Korea’s sovereignty extends across the North according to its domestic law, Tokyo should secure consent from Seoul should it want to deploy troops there.But Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said during his talks with Seoul’s Defense Minister Han Min-koo last

Nov. 24, 2015

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin inspected the combat readiness posture of a joint South Korea-U.S. military division stationed near the inter-Korean border on Tuesday, the JCS said.    Lee visited the Combined Division inside the U.S. Forces Korea's Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, located south of the Demilitarized Zone, and inspected the division's joint defense posture, it said in a statement.  South Korea and the U.S. launched the combined division in June, consisting of a South

Nov. 24, 2015

South Korea's ambitious fighter jet development project was dealt another blow as the country hit a snag in its negotiations with the United States over technical support, according to sources on Tuesday.  Seoul has been expecting final approval from the U.S. State Department on U.S.-based defense firm Lockheed Martin's transfer of aviation technologies for the Korean Fighter Experimental program, designed to produce domestic combat jets by 2025.   South Korea agreed with Lockheed Martin last ye

Nov. 24, 2015

Two people died after a U.S. military helicopter crashed on a local road in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Monday, authorities said.   The accident took place at around 6:22 p.m., killing the two people aboard, including a pilot, in the northeastern province.   The ill-fated helicopter is believed to be an AH-64 Apache that belongs to the 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. troops in Korea.   "I went out after hearing a 'bang' sound twice and saw flames rising into the sky from the side of the road," a

Nov. 23, 2015

Korea Aerospace Industries has signed a tentative deal with Indonesia to jointly develop a new South Korean fighter jet, the country’s sole aircraft-maker said Sunday.Under the deal, the Indonesian government will shoulder 20 percent of the cost for the 8.6 trillion won ($7.4 billion) project called KF-X to develop the KF-16-class warplane to replace aging F-4s and F-5s by 2025. “Korea Aerospace Industries has completed negotiations and reached an agreement with the Indonesian counterpart over t

Nov. 22, 2015

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy will visit Beijing this week for consultations on North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday amid signs that Pyongyang-Beijing ties are improving.  Hwang Joon-kook, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, plans to make a two-day trip there starting Tuesday.  He will hold talks with Wu Dawei, China's point man on Korea, on current security situations on the peninsula, the ministry said.  They are also expected to discuss ties be

Nov. 22, 2015

Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. signed a deal with Indonesia on Sunday, clinching the Southeast Asian country's partnership in a lavish local fighter jet development program.   Under the preliminary contract, Indonesia will shoulder 20 percent, or 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion), of the program's 8.7 trillion-won cost to develop the advanced multi-role combat jet, according to the airplane manufacturer.  The Korean Fighter Experimental program is designed to develop and mass-produce homegrown du

Nov. 22, 2015

The naval squadrons of South Korea and China conducted joint anti-piracy drills in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the coast of Somalia this week, according to China's military on Friday, in a rare show of military cooperation between the two nations. The one-day drills, took place on Tuesday, involved a South Korean destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin and a Chinese guided-missile frigate Liuzhou, the People's Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military, reported late Thur

Nov. 20, 2015

An American Army command sergeant major stationed in South Korea has been named the new top noncommissioned officer in the U.S. armed forces, according to the Pentagon.Army Command Sgt. Maj. John W. Troxell, stationed in Seoul's Yongsan, has been selected as the new "senior enlisted advisor" to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon said in a release."Sergeant Major Troxell is someone soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors can look up to. He can inspire people, and he is someone

Nov. 20, 2015

U.S. President Barack Obama stressed the "critical importance" of trilateral cooperation with allies South Korea and Japan in ensuring peace and stability in the region, the White House said Thursday.Obama made the remark during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Philippines."President Obama noted the critical importance of a strong trilateral relationship among the United States, Japan, and the ROK to ensure

Nov. 20, 2015

South Korea is in the final stage of negotiations with Indonesia over their partnership on a local fighter jet development program and the results will possibly come early next week, the defense procurement agency said Thursday."(Bilateral negotiations) are in the finalizing stage," Kim Si-cheol, spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said at a press briefing. "The result is possible for early next week." Indonesia previously agreed with South Korea last month to shoulder 2

Nov. 19, 2015

China appears to oppose the potential deployment of a THAAD missile defense unit to South Korea because the system reduces the value of Beijing's missile inventory aimed for regional dominance, a U.S. government commission report said Wednesday.The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission made the assessment in its annual report to Congress, noting that Beijing's stated reason for its opposition to U.S. missile defense is concern about the value of China's nuclear arsenal.However, thea

Nov. 19, 2015

The Military Mutual Aid Association, the fifth-largest institutional investor in South Korea, is considering a new business opportunity in the private military company sector, a high-ranking official of the fund said Wednesday.The MMAA forecast expanded business opportunities in the private military company segment as the local military is moving to outsource more of its non-combat services down the road, Lee Deok-keon, the association's managing director for planning and coordination said in a

Nov. 18, 2015

The military has signed a deal to develop unmanned ground surveillance sensors to boost its capacity to monitor North Korean forces in the Demilitarized Zone, the defense procurement agency said Tuesday.The deal between the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the local defense manufacturer, Hanwha Thales, is worth 3.6 billion won ($3.1 million).The sensors will be installed in unmanned corners along the southern side of the DMZ, with the capacity to detect any infiltration attempts fr

Nov. 17, 2015