Korea to cut number of generals

South Korea will reduce the number of its military generals by about a tenth starting next year, a senior government official said Thursday.The Defense Ministry has drawn up a plan to downsize the total number of generals in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps from the current level of about 440 to some 400, the official said on condition of anonymity.The plan is expected to be implemented in stages starting next year."The Defense Ministry is coordinating with the Army, Navy and Air Force

Oct. 29, 2015

New task force to undertake faltering KF-X project

South Korea plans to launch a new project team which will take charge of the faltering fighter jet development program before the end of this year, an official from the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday."For the success of the KF-X project, which is invested with huge funds and spawned technology development controversy, the project team will be established under the wing of the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration," the official said. The new team will be staffed wit

Oct. 28, 2015

Korea, U.S. hold talks on cyber threats

South Korea and the United States held working-level talks on Tuesday on how to tighten cooperation on protecting against potential cyber attacks, the Ministry of National Defense said.The third Cyber Cooperation Working Group held in Seoul discussed sharing intelligence on cyber threats and joint efforts to fend off potential attacks on the cyber space. The meeting was each headed by Park Rae-ho, director general, and U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Sean R. Filipowski."The latest mee

Oct. 27, 2015

Gov't to conscript extra 20,000 soldiers in next 2 yrs

The government and the ruling party agreed Tuesday to conscript an additional 20,000 soldiers over the next two years, as part of efforts to steadily maintain its standing forces.The government will spend an extra budget of 60 billion won ($53 million) to recruit an additional 10,000 officers in 2016 and another 10,000 in 2017."Currently, some 250,000 men are conscripted annually and there is enough facility to accommodate an extra 10,000," Rep. Kim Sung-chan of the ruling Saenuri Party told rep

Oct. 27, 2015

Park vows to push ahead with correct history textbooks

President Park Geun-hye vowed Tuesday to push ahead with the publication of "correct" history textbooks as she dismissed concern of possible distortion of the proposed books."Correcting history cannot and should not be the subject of political strife," Park said in a televised address to the National Assembly.Park's latest appeal came amid outcry from the opposition party and some liberal civic groups against the government's move to reintroduce state history textbooks for secondary school stude

Oct. 27, 2015

Korea, U.S. open joint naval exercise with USS Ronald Reagan

South Korea and the United States kicked off on Monday a four-day naval exercise in the East Sea, joined by the nuclear-propelled USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, the Navy said. It is intended to bolster their joint combat readiness and interoperability, according to the South Korean Navy.  The Aegis-equipped Sejong the Great-class destroyer and 19 other warships will participate in the drill from the South Korean Navy.On the U.S. side will be the supercarrier, loaded with aircraft, and four

Oct. 26, 2015

DAPA soon to report KF-X project to Park

The embattled defense procurement agency may report soon to President Park Geun-hye on how to prop up its faltering project to develop indigenous jet fighters in the aftermath of the U.S.' rejection of four key technologies being transferred to the program.The 18 trillion-won ($15.9 billion) project to produce 120 combat jets hit a major stumbling block after the U.S. Department of State denied in April export licenses on four of the 25 technologies U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin offered for

Oct. 26, 2015

ISIS-linked group threatens to bomb Seoul store: police

Police said Sunday they have received intelligence claiming that an African group linked to the Islamic State has threatened to carry out a terrorist attack on a store in a posh Seoul district.In a post on social media, the Mali group said they would attack a shop near COEX, a large shopping complex in the wealthy district of Gangnam, a police official said, asking not to be named, adding there was no mention of explosives being involved.The official, however, said the attack appeared highly unl

Oct. 25, 2015

Seoul, Washington, Tokyo discuss Japan’s military role

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held working-level talks Thursday in Tokyo to explore ways to bolster trilateral security cooperation as controversy continues over the scope of Japanese military activities during a contingency on the peninsula. The two-day consultations are being held with the three countries’ one-star-level officials within the framework of their Defense Trilateral Talks, following a deputy-minister-level session last April. Seoul’s Defense Ministry dispatched Brig. Gen. Park C

Oct. 23, 2015

Official says S. Korea can develop key technologies for fighter project

South Korea can develop four key technologies that the United States has refused to transfer to Seoul for its fighter jet development project, the top security official said Friday.The four technologies are something that "we can develop on our own," National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin said in a parliamentary session.One of the four technologies is related to linking active electronically scanned array radars into fighters' mission computers, a critical element for manufacturing fighters with

Oct. 23, 2015

Military mulls Taurus missile variant for arming of FA-50 light combat jet

The military is reviewing whether it is possible to arm its FA-50 light combat fighters with a new variant of the Taurus air-to-surface missile to enhance combat capabilities, a military official said Thursday.Europe-based Taurus Systems is now developing a new version of the Taurus missile, numbered 350K-2, for possible use for the Air Force and the Army, the official said.The target specifications for the new variant under development are a range of 400 kilometers and a cruise speed of Mach 0.

Oct. 22, 2015

Japan won't operate on Korean Peninsula without Seoul's consent: Amb. Sung Kim

Japan's military won't operate on the Korean Peninsula without Seoul's consent, a senior U.S. diplomat handling relations with Seoul and Tokyo said Tuesday.Japan's decision to exercise so-called "collective self-defense" has spurred concern in South Korea that the former colonial master might abuse the right and enter the Korean Peninsula without Seoul's consent in the event of a contingency with North Korea.Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, after talks with his South Korean counterpart in

Oct. 21, 2015

Navy officer arrested for embezzlement

Military prosecution on Tuesday arrested a Navy rear admiral on charges of embezzling public funds, marking the latest in a string of potential corruption cases that have tarnished the Navy’s standing, the Defense Ministry said. The rear admiral, surnamed Kim, rose to fame for leading the Cheonghae Unit during its operation in late 2012 to rescue the sailors of the MT Gemini, a tanker owned by a Singaporean shipping company that had been taken captive by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. He re

Oct. 20, 2015

Gov't OKs troop reduction bill

The government Tuesday approved a revision bill calling for the reduction of troops to 500,000 by 2030.The Defense Ministry initially proposed cutting the number of active-duty soldiers from the current 630,000 to 526,200 by 2022 as part of reform efforts.It later revised the target year to 2030, citing growing security threats from North Korea and budget constraints.The bill, which was passed during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, is subject to parliamentary approval.Meanwhile, South Kore

Oct. 20, 2015

International defense exhibition opens in Korea

A defense exhibition showcasing the latest high-tech weapons kicked off near Seoul Tuesday, drawing dozens of top military officials and experts from around the world.The Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition opened at the Seoul Air Base, just south of the capital, for a six-day run, displaying military equipment built by 386 defense manufacturers in 32 countries.About 85 top military officials and experts from 45 countries, including Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, joined

Oct. 20, 2015