Women, old men in military? Korea debates solutions for looming conscript shortfall

Reforming military obligations for men in South Korea has always been a flashpoint for heated debate. But recently, fuel has been added to the fire with the emergence of two rather radical ideas. One idea came from professor Choi Young-jin of Chung-Ang University in Seoul, who proposed in an op-ed for a local daily the formation of a "senior army" composed of men aged 55 to 75 to address an anticipated shortfall in military personnel. In South Korea, which faces the nuclear-armed, bell

Feb. 2, 2024

US F-16 fighter crashes near base in South Korea

An F-16 Fighting Falcon belonging to the 8th Fighter Wing at the US air base in Gunsan, a port city in western South Korea, crashed at around 8:41 a.m. Wednesday. The crash happened during a routine training and the pilot was recovered after ejecting safely, according to Kunsan Air Base. “We are very thankful to the Republic of Korea rescue forces and all of our teammates who made the swift recovery of our pilot possible,” Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, 8th FW commander, said in a release.

Jan. 31, 2024

North Korea fires cruise missiles again after just 2 days

North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles on Tuesday into waters near its western coast, just two days after test-launching its new cruise missiles from a submarine. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired “several” cruise missiles into the sea at around 7 a.m., the details of which are being analyzed by South Korean and US intelligence authorities. “We are closely coordinating with the US and maintaining heightened vigilance and surveillance,”

Jan. 30, 2024

New JSA barracks named after 2 US Army officers killed in 1976 axe incident

A new front-line barracks of the United Nations Command Security Battalion has been named after two US Army officers who were killed in a 1976 axe incident as a tribute their sacrifices, the command said Tuesday. Major Arthur Bonifas and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett were killed by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976, in the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone while trimming a poplar tree to secure a clear view. The "Bonifas & Barrett Barracks" for US officers in Cam

Jan. 30, 2024

North Korea claims of cruise missile performance likely exaggerated: JCS

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday said in a preliminary analysis it found North Korea’s claims of the capabilities of its new strategic cruise missiles to be exaggerated. The South Korean military detected North Korea launching cruise missiles at around 8 a.m. Sunday toward waters near the port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, the home to a North Korean base for submarines. “We are looking into the possibility that the flight time claimed by North Korea may h

Jan. 29, 2024

S. Korea to develop spy drone deployable from warships by 2028

South Korea aims to develop an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft deployable from warships by 2028, the state arms procurement agency said Monday, amid efforts to boost surveillance against North Korean threats. Last month, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a contract worth 143.3 billion won ($107.1 million) with defense company Hanwha Systems to develop the rotary-wing aircraft by December 2028. DAPA said the aircraft is designed to be deployed from warships, as well as Marine

Jan. 29, 2024

Seoul denies avoiding drills near border

The Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Sunday denied reports that the South Korean military was still putting off drills near the shared border, as per the 2018 inter-Korean agreement that North Korea withdrew from earlier. “Our military can hold drills according to its own plan, only there aren’t such plans yet,” a senior defense ministry official told The Korea Herald. “There is no official decision or guidance in place that is preventing our military from conduct

Jan. 28, 2024

North Korean cruise missiles fired near submarine base: JCS

North Korea on Sunday morning fired several cruise missiles into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS said in a message to reporters that the missiles landed at around 8 a.m. in waters near the North Korean port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, on the eastern coast. “Our military is closely coordinating with the US side amid heightened vigilance and surveillance, and watching for further signs and activities

Jan. 28, 2024

North Korea claims cruise missile upgrade

The missiles North Korea launched toward the sea west of the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday had been its new strategic cruise missiles, according to its official media. The state official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that it had test-fired the new strategic cruise missile, whose name Pulhwasal-3-31 means fire arrow in Korean, for the first time the previous day. North Korea’s Missile General Bureau said the first testing of the cruise missiles came as a “part of the proces

Jan. 25, 2024

S. Korea begins production of spy drones for N. Korea surveillance

South Korea has begun production of medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles to enhance the military's surveillance over North Korea, the state-run procurement agency said Thursday. In December, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a 471.7 billion-won ($353.6 million) deal with Korean Air, South Korea's biggest airline, along with two defense firms, LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Systems, to manufacture advanced spy drones by 2028. The state-run Agency for Defense Development ini

Jan. 25, 2024

Seoul’s spy agency accuses China of major cyber attacks

South Korean spy agency on Wednesday reported a significant uptick in attempts of cyber attacks by foreign sources last year, waged mainly by North Korea and China. Chinese attacks tended to inflict more severe damage than North Korean ones, despite the latter being more frequent. The National Intelligence Service said cyber attacks against the public sector increased by 36 percent overall last year compared to the year before. North Korea accounted for 80 percent of those attacks, and China, 5

Jan. 24, 2024

Main opposition leader proposes military pay raise

The main opposition party on Wednesday rolled out a set of pledges aimed at improving the livelihoods of soldiers here, including raising their night and weekend shift payments. The pledges were announced by Democratic Party of Korea Chair Lee Jae-myung during his visit to the Second Marine Division in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, in the morning. The party plans to help the Ministry of Defense raise the weekday late shift pay for soldiers from the current 10,000 won ($7.50) to 30,000 won per shif

Jan. 24, 2024

Kim Jong-un nostalgic for engagement approach of 2018: Seoul defense chief

Shin Won-sik, the minister of national defense of South Korea, says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could carry out a nuclear weapons test at any time this year if he believes he could gain what he wants from the next US president by doing so. In an interview with The Korea Herald on Monday, the South Korean defense chief said North Korea’s Kim may seek to leverage the US presidential election in November to get the incoming administration in Washington to accede to his demands. North Kore

Jan. 23, 2024

Survivor of torpedoed corvette takes helm of reincarnated ROKS Cheonan frigate

A Navy officer who survived North Korea's 2010 sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan took the helm of a new frigate named after the ill-fated corvette, the Navy said Monday. The FFG-826 Daegu-class frigate was named after the ROKS Cheonan, which sank in the Yellow Sea after the North Korean torpedo attack in March 2010, killing 46 sailors. Commander Park Yeon-soo, who served as the operations officer on the Cheonan, became the commanding officer of the ROKS Cheonan frigate during an i

Jan. 22, 2024

Seoul dismisses North Korea’s claims of undersea nuclear weapons test

The South Korean presidential office on Sunday said North Korea’s claims of having carried out a test of an underwater nuclear weapons system were probably overstated. In a primary analysis on North Korea’s announcement on Friday, an official with the presidential office in Seoul said that the purported test was “likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.” The development of an underwater nuclear-based weapons system is one of the key tasks outlined in North Korea’s f

Jan. 21, 2024

S. Korea's military power 5th in world; N. Korea ranks 36th: index

South Korea ranked fifth in the world in terms of military strength, while North Korea's standing was at 36th, an annual military power index showed Friday. South Korea had a firepower score of 0.1416 to stand at fifth out of 145 countries, according to Global Firepower 2024. Its standing rose by one notch from a year earlier. The index is calculated based on more than 60 factors, with categories ranging from military might and financial standing to logistical capability and geography. The

Jan. 19, 2024

Senior S. Korean general calls for intl. response against NK threats at NATO meeting

A senior South Korean general has highlighted the need for international response and cooperation against North Korea's evolving military threats at a major gathering of top North Atlantic Treaty Organization military officials, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday. Lt. Gen. Hwang You-sung, vice chairman of the JCS, made the call during a session of the defense chiefs of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels on Thursday after being invited to the gathering along with delegations from thr

Jan. 19, 2024

Defense ministry unit probing student activists over attempt to enter presidential office

The defense ministry's investigation unit has begun a probe into student activists who attempted to enter the presidential office this month over their possible violation of military law, officials said Thursday. The ministry's Criminal Investigative Command has booked some 10 members of the Korean University Progressive Union on charges of injuring sentry guards and trespassing at a guard post during their attempt to enter the presidential office in central Seoul on Jan. 6. The presid

Jan. 18, 2024

Anti-corruption office raids office of Marines commandant over alleged influence peddling

The anti-corruption investigation office has raided the office of Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Kye-hwan over an alleged influence-peddling case related to the death of a young Marine last year, multiple sources said Thursday. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials searched Kim's office at the Marine Corps headquarters in Hwaseong, some 40 kilometers south of Seoul, Wednesday to seize documents and files related to the case, according to the sources familiar w

Jan. 18, 2024

[Graphic News] Over 8,000 permanent residents volunteered for military service over past 2 decades

Over 8,000 permanent residents have fulfilled South Korea’s military service over the past two decades under a voluntary enrollment system, the Military Manpower Administration said. The manpower agency adopted the voluntary enrollment system in 2004 to allow overseas residents whose mandatory military service was exempted or postponed due to their permanent residence status. All able-bodied Korean men are obliged to serve in the military for at least 18 months. The number of cumulative ap

Jan. 18, 2024