The Pentagon has formally informed Congress of a plan to sell four Global Hawk surveillance drones to South Korea, a related agency said Monday.The deal under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, if sealed, would be worth up to $1.2 billion (1.28 trillion won), according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) affiliated with the Department of Defense.It includes four RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk remotely-piloted aircrafts equipped with the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suites (EISS), a

Dec. 25, 2012

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said on Friday that the country and its U.S. ally have been sharing intelligence and tracking down potential North Korean facilities used to develop highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.“South Korea and the U.S. have been identifying HEU facilities in North Korea by analyzing intelligence images,” said a South Korean army intelligence official. He added, “We are currently tracking down those facilities and activities relating to HEU,” as the alli

Dec. 21, 2012

The Defense Ministry said Thursday that it will allow a local church to light up a Christmas tower near the tense border with North Korea, reversing its reluctant attitude over the sensitive tradition ahead of major political events.Military officials earlier this month said Christmas towers near the military demarcation line would not be lit up this year, apparently reflecting concerns that the move could have escalated tension ahead of Pyongyang’s Dec. 12 rocket launch and the presidential ele

Dec. 20, 2012

The Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that problems would occur should the new government of president-elect Park Geun-hye seek to reduce the country’s mandatory military service period.“Problems would arise following the reduction of the service period from 21 months to 18 months as it could further make the military fall short of resources,” spokesperson Kim Min-seok told the press.He added that the ministry would need to discuss this matter with Park’s transition team, and hopes to r

Dec. 20, 2012

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Monday that it has decided to use Germany-made key engine and transmission parts, or the so-called power packs, over Korean parts for the military’s first 100 K2 tanks.DAPA will import the first two sets of power packs from Germany-based MTU to install in the tanks for trials next year, and bring in more in phases with the aim of deploying the tanks by March of 2014.This decision was made in a meeting presided over by the National Def

Dec. 17, 2012

Three North Korean fishermen were rescued earlier this week while drifting aboard a small boat off South Korea's east coast but they had no apparent intention to defect, a government source said Friday."The coast guard was called after a South Korean boat found the North Korean fishing boat near Ulleng Island yesterday," the source said, asking that he not be identified.The source later confirmed that three North Koreans were aboard the boat when they were rescued at 1:33 a.m. Friday, adding tha

Dec. 14, 2012

Greenpeace said Monday it had filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government for denying entry to half a dozen key campaigners and seeking to “silence” criticism of its nuclear policies.The environmental group said it wanted recognition from the court that Seoul‘s decision to bar six Greenpeace staff was a violation of freedom of expression and international human rights.The lawsuit also demands almost 70 million won ($65,000) in compensation for the disruption to the group’s campaigning ef

Dec. 10, 2012

South Korea and Spain have agreed to share military supplies in peacekeeping and rescue operations as part of efforts to expand military ties between the two sides, the defense ministry said Monday.Lee Sang-wook, the head of South Korean defense ministry's logistics management bureau, met his Spanish counterpart Prieto Oses Ramon in Madrid to sign a memorandum of understanding on the bilateral military support, the ministry said. Under the agreement, the two countries will share military supplie

Dec. 10, 2012

South Korea has scaled down its troop deployment to Afghanistan as its civilian reconstruction team is to end its mission in the war-torn country next month, the Army said Thursday.The number has decreased to 61 from 350, it said.The military held a send-off ceremony for the sixth batch of troops at the International Peace Supporting Standby Force headquarters in Incheon Thursday. They are to leave for Afghanistan early next month.“The sixth batch will work at a job training center and hospital

Nov. 29, 2012

More than 17,000 conscientious objectors have been given prison sentences since the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, according to data from civic groups.The number of conscientious objectors has risen with the increase in civil liberties. The figures showed that more than 8,200 of the 17,000 were sentenced between 2001 and 2012, while just over 4,000 people were imprisoned for the offense between 1994 and 2000. The figure for the 1980 to 1993 period, when the military governments of Chun Doo-

Nov. 28, 2012

A satellite image by a U.S. company on Tuesday showed increased activity at North Korea's launch site used to fire off long-range missiles amid wide speculation over the North's looming missile test.The image taken on Nov. 23 and released by DigitalGlobe shows "a marked increase in activity at North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launch Station," the U.S. imagery provider said, referring to the North's west coast launch site, often used to send off long-range missiles. The launching site, also known as

Nov. 27, 2012

Hyundai Rotem, a unit of Hyundai Motor Group, has been chosen as the preferred bidder to develop proprietary amphibious armored vehicles by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.DAPA plans to develop up to three test vehicles, complete with Korean-made parts and equipment by 2015, and will be deployed at infantry units for operation beginning in 2016, an DAPA official said.DAPA will finalize its negotiations with Rotem by the end of December.This is in line with efforts to build Korean

Nov. 27, 2012

Defense officials in South Korea and the U.S. are closely monitoring signs that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile. The U.S. recently informed South Korea and Japan that it had detected via satellite North Korea transporting something shaped like a missile component from a weapons factory in Pyongyang to its missile assembly base in Dongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported Friday. “We are closely monitoring North Korea’s movements

Nov. 23, 2012

A new fire station will go into operation in the joint inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday.“The Gaeseong complex fire station has been completed last month and will be put into motion around next month,” said an official of the ministry handling inter-Korean issues. The current fire house, installed within the building used by South Korea’s agency for managing the industrial zone, will move to the newly built three

Nov. 23, 2012

South Korea on Friday commemorated the second anniversary of North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the tensely guarded western sea, as it prepared to conduct military drills to prepare for future attacks.North Korea lobbed 170 rounds of artillery onto the front-line island two years ago, killing two Marines and two civilians in the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. About 4,000 people, including bereaved family members, government officials and

Nov. 23, 2012