S. Korea's JCS chief visits U.S. battle ship

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman asked the U.S. Navy on Monday for its commitment to maintaining a staunch joint posture against possible enemy provocations, his office said.  Adm. Choi Yun-hee, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the remarks while visiting the USS Fort Worth, one of Washington's newest littoral battle ships, which is currently docked in the southern port city of Busan.  The 3,450-ton Freedom-class U.S. coastal combat ship arrived in Korea earlier this month

March 16, 2015

THAAD to be deployed in S. Korea in emergencies

The United States has included its advanced missile-defense system as part of the support it would provide South Korea in emergency situations on the Korean Peninsula, a South Korean military source said Sunday.  "The U.S. plans to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula," a military source told Yonhap News Agency. "My understanding is that THAAD is easily transportable with a U.S. military aircraft."  Washington has recently hinted at the dep

March 15, 2015

N.K. fires 7 short-range missiles into East Sea

North Korea fired seven surface-to-air missiles into the East Sea from its east coast on Thursday, a day before South Korea and the U.S. ended their annual Key Resolve command post exercise, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared to have observed the live-fire exercise, and the missile launches were conducted without any declaration of a no-sail/no-fly zone to ensure the safety of passing ships and aircraft, the JCS said.“We believe that the missiles w

March 13, 2015

U.S. troops should stay in S. Korea after unification: opposition chief

South Korea's main opposition party leader said Friday he believes U.S. troops should remain in the country in the event of inter-Korean reunification to help ensure peace and stability in the region.Moon Jae-in, chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), made the remarks in a meeting with Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, according to the party's senior spokesman Kim Yung-rok, who sat in on the meeting."As (U.S. Forces Korea) contribute to

March 13, 2015

S. Korea delays aerial tanker introduction to 2018

South Korea has postponed the introduction of aerial refueling tankers by about a year until 2018 due to a delayed process of selecting a successful bidder, government officials and industry sources here said Friday.The 1.4 trillion won ($1.26 billion) project to purchase four refueling tankers has drawn interest from three aerospace giants: Europe's Airbus Defense and Space, Boeing of the United States and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel.The Defense Acquisition Program Administratio

March 13, 2015

S. Korea, U.S. wrap up joint Key Resolve exercise

South Korea and the United States were to wrap up their joint annual war game aimed at honing deterrence against North Korea on Friday, officials said, amid Pyongyang's strong criticism and threats of harsh retaliation.Involving some 10,000 South Korean and 8,600 American troops, the computerized command post exercise, called Key Resolve, began on March 2 to improve the combined forces' operation and combat capabilities to deter threats from North Korea.Seoul and Washington finished the first ph

March 13, 2015

Colombia to send delegation to S. Korea for defense cooperation

Colombia plans to send a delegation to South Korea around May to explore chances for joint defense projects and to further boost bilateral ties, the South American country's defense minister said Thursday."Our defense ministry plans to send a delegation some two months later to South Korea, which is to be comprised of officials of major defense companies and government workers," Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters in Seoul."Their visit will serve as an opportunity to seek strategic cooperative rel

March 12, 2015

Kerry, Carter expected to visit S. Korea in near future: sources

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter are expected to visit South Korea in the near future, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.Kerry is expected to visit Seoul as part of a regional trip that will also likely take him to Japan and China. In each stop, the top American diplomat is expected to discuss the planned visits to the U.S. by the leaders of the three countries.Carter is also expected to visit Japan as well, the sources said.Carter's trip is meaningful in th

March 12, 2015

3 U.S. ships to visit S. Korea for joint landing drill

South Korea and the United States plan to stage a joint landing drill here late this month, with three U.S. amphibious ships participating, officers said Wednesday.Starting at the end of this month, the Marine Corps and the navies of the two nations are scheduled to hold the annual landing drill of Ssangyong in South Korea's southern port city of Pohang "to boost capabilities of conducting the full spectrum of a combined arms, amphibious landing operation," a military officer said.Though the exa

March 11, 2015

S. Korea, Colombia agree to boost defense cooperation

The South Korean and Colombian defense chiefs held talks on Wednesday to discuss regional security situations and signed an agreement to deepen bilateral defense ties, Seoul's defense ministry said.During the meeting in Seoul, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Colombian counterpart Juan Carlos Pinzon "exchanged opinions on regional security circumstances, including on the Korean Peninsula, and discussed ways to develop cooperative ties in military and defense industry fields such

March 11, 2015

S. Korea keeps strategic ambiguity over THAAD missile defense system

South Korea has made no decision on whether to allow the United States to deploy an advanced missile defense battery to South Korea, an official said Wednesday, in what could be the latest attempt to maintain strategic ambiguity over an issue that may hurt its ties with either the U.S. or China.Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters that there was no request from the U.S. to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to South Korea."As there was no request, there

March 11, 2015

U.S. commander says he held talks with China about N. Korea

The U.S. Army Pacific commander said Tuesday he held talks with Chinese military officials about North Korea when he recently visited the country.Gen. Vincent Brooks made the remark in an interview with the Brookings Institution's "Order from Chaos" blog, emphasizing the importance of dialogue with countries in the region about Pyongyang.He did not provide specifics of his discussions with the Chinese officials, but it is still seen as unusual for U.S. and Chinese military authorities to talk ab

March 11, 2015

[Reporter's Column] Korea-U.S. alliance is rock solid

After last week’s knife attack on U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, concerns surged that the incident might undercut the South Korea-U.S. alliance ― one reason why Seoul officials convened an emergency meeting of vice ministers and even a National Security Council session right after the unprecedented incident.Amid media speculation that the incident would damage the bilateral partnership, President Park Geun-hye called it an “attack on the alliance.” Upon arrival from her trip to the Middle East on

March 9, 2015

Seoul says no plan to buy U.S. missile-defense system

South Korea reaffirmed Monday its long-held stance of not purchasing an advanced missile-defense battery from the United States amid growing calls from its ruling party lawmakers to introduce it to better guard against North Korea's missiles.The U.S. has hinted at the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil, home to about 28,500 American troops, to better cope with the growing threats of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile capabilities. "The defense ministr

March 9, 2015

Park delivers pep talk to S. Korean troops in UAE

President Park Geun-hye met with hundreds of South Korean troops in the United Arab Emirates on Friday to boost their morale on the third and last day of her visit to the wealthy Gulf state."I am overwhelmed to see our troops in the UAE," Park, wearing a Navy jacket, said in a meeting with about 200 soldiers aboard the Dae Jo Yeong, a 4,400-ton South Korean destroyer, anchored at Zayed Port in the heart of the UAE capital.Park -- the first commander-in-chief to visit a South Korean warship deplo

March 7, 2015

5 U.S. Navy ships arrive in S. Korea to join annual drill

Five U.S. Navy ships have arrived in South Korea to take part in an ongoing annual military exercise between the allies, the Combined Forces Command said Thursday.On Monday, Seoul and Washington kicked off the field training exercise Foal Eagle as part of efforts to improve the combined forces' operations and combat capabilities to deter threats from North Korea. The drill involves 200,000 South Korean and 3,700 American troops and is scheduled to run until April 24. "Five Navy ships from the U.

March 5, 2015

Faulty safety system caused Navy gun accident

A malfunctioning safety control system caused a naval gun to be accidentally fired from a warship and seriously injure a seaman in January, Navy officials said Tuesday. Abrasion caused slipperiness between older and newer parts of the safety control system, leading to the accident. The 21-year-old seaman of the 2nd Fleet Command, surnamed Oh, remains in critical condition.The officials also pointed out that several crewmembers failed to comply with safety rules concerning the removal of a piece

March 3, 2015