S. Korea, US, Japan stage joint naval drill involving aircraft carrier

South Korea, the United States and Japan have jointly conducted naval drills in waters south of the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's recent launch of a hypersonic missile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. The joint exercise took place in southeastern waters off Jeju Island involving nine warships of the three nations, including the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, from Monday to Wednesday. The South Korean Navy's Aegis combat system-equipped destroy

Jan. 17, 2024

Defense chief says N. Korea appears to have made 'some progress' in hypersonic missile development

North Korea appears to have made "some progress" in its pursuit to develop a hypersonic missile, Seoul's defense chief said Tuesday, after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested a solid-fuel one earlier this week. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the remark in a radio interview with broadcaster KBS after the North launched an intermediate-range missile into the East Sea on Sunday in its first ballistic missile test this year. Shin said the latest launch involved a conical

Jan. 16, 2024

S. Korea to join US-led multinational anti-submarine exercise

South Korea will join a US-led multinational anti-submarine exercise in waters off Guam on Tuesday, the Navy said, in an effort to hone capabilities against underwater threats. The Navy will deploy some 40 personnel and a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft for the annual Sea Dragon exercise that is set to begin later in the day through Jan. 25, which will also involve India, Australia and Japan. The exercise will train troops aboard maritime patrol aircraft to identify and track submarines with detect

Jan. 16, 2024

S. Korea considering support measures for safe passage in Red Sea

South Korea is considering various measures to secure safe passage for cargo ships in the Red Sea amid rising tensions on the major shipping route, the defense ministry said Monday. Tensions in the Red Sea have escalated as the United States and Britain conducted strikes on military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen last week following more than two dozen attacks by the rebels since mid-November. "The defense ministry is making all efforts to ensure Korean vessels' safe shipp

Jan. 15, 2024

North Korea conducts first ballistic missile test of year

North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday afternoon, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was the North’s first ballistic missile launch of the year, with the previous one on Dec. 18. “At approximately 2:55 p.m. on this day, a single intermediate-range ballistic missile was fired from the vicinity of Pyongyang toward the east coast, flying for about 1,000 kilometers before landing in the water,” t

Jan. 14, 2024

Defense chief calls for maintaining capabilities to strike NK leadership

South Korea's defense chief on Friday called for maintaining operational capabilities to eliminate the North Korean leadership in a contingency in order to deter its nuclear threats, his ministry said. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the remark as he visited the Agency for Defense Development in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he has no intention of avoiding war with the South. "In order to deter North Korea's nuclear thre

Jan. 12, 2024

JCS chief calls for 'seamless' surveillance at western coastal units

South Korea's top military officer has called for "seamless" surveillance as he visited units on the western coast, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday, in the wake of North Korea's recent artillery firing. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo inspected a coastal guard unit and a radar base, both located in Taean County, 109 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Thursday. The latest inspection visit came after the North fired hundreds of artillery shells near the western sea border

Jan. 12, 2024

S. Korea to begin production of homegrown KF-21 fighter jet

South Korea is set to begin production of the KF-21 fighter jet this year as planned, the state arms procurement agency said Wednesday, in what would be a major milestone in the country's pursuit of an advanced homegrown fighter. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration seeks to sign a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the jet's manufacturer, within the first half of the year to pave the way for the KF-21's large-scale production, according to a DAPA official. I

Jan. 10, 2024

Top S. Korean, NATO military officials hold phone talks ahead of major NATO gathering

The top military officials of South Korea and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held phone talks Tuesday ahead of a major NATO meeting next week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, amid joint efforts to deepen cooperation. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo spoke by phone with Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of NATO's military committee, on the two-day NATO Military Chiefs of Defense meeting in Brussels starting next Wednesday to be attended by South Korean officials, according to the JCS. South Korea

Jan. 9, 2024

North Korea broke now-defunct military pact with South 3,600 times: JCS

North Korea breached the recently scrapped 2018 inter-Korean military accord approximately 3,600 times, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday. The number of violations by North Korea, counted from the time the deal was reached six years ago, was announced following three consecutive days of North Korean provocations along the sea boundary. The JCS in Seoul told the press that due to North Korea’s firing of artillery shells near South Korean border islands over the past thre

Jan. 8, 2024

S. Korea to launch two more military spy satellites this year

South Korea plans to launch two more military spy satellites this year to better monitor North Korea, the state arms procurement agency said Monday, a move that could heat up the inter-Korean space race. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said two synthetic aperture radar satellites are scheduled to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in April and November, respectively. Beginning with an electro-optical and infrared satellite in

Jan. 8, 2024

N. Korea fires shells near western sea border for third day

North Korea has continued to fire shells near the western maritime border area for the third consecutive day since Friday, despite South Korea's repeated calls for an immediate cessation of such military action defying the Sept. 19, 2018, inter-Korean military agreement. The North Korean military fired around 90 shells north of South Korea's front-line island of Yeonpyeongdo from around 4 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. local time, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We issue a grave warni

Jan. 7, 2024

Tensions rise as North Korea fires some 200 artillery shells near sea border

Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula on Friday morning as North Korea fired some 200 artillery shells into the sea north of the border. Immediately after the North fired the shells off its western coast, South Korean authorities issued evacuation orders on Yeonpyeong Island and Baekryeong Island. North Korea continued to fire shells for two hours until 11 a.m., the South Korean military said. The South’s military said no South Korean citizens or members of the armed forces were harme

Jan. 5, 2024

S. Korea, US troops hold joint firing drills near border with N. Korea

South Korea and the United States have staged a joint live-fire exercise near the border with North Korea to bolster their joint combat readiness, the Army said Thursday. South Korea's Capital Mechanized Infantry Division and the US Stryker Brigade Combat Team from the 2nd Infantry Division were mobilized for the drills, which have been under way in the border city of Pocheon, 46 kilometers northeast of Seoul, since Dec. 29. It runs through Friday. The allies' first joint training of t

Jan. 4, 2024

S. Korea, Poland clinch bilateral agreement on military airworthiness certification

South Korea and Poland have clinched a deal to launch a mutual recognition process for military airworthiness certification, Seoul's defense procurement agency said Tuesday. Representatives from Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Polish defense ministry signed the bilateral agreement on airworthiness, a key measure of a plane's suitability for safe flight. Under the mutual recognition process, Warsaw will recognize Seoul's airworthiness certification f

Jan. 2, 2024

Seoul hits back at Kim Jong-un: ‘Nuclear arms use will mean regime’s end’

South Korea on Monday returned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s fresh threats of a nuclear attack with a warning that an attempt at such a move would result in the end of his regime. Shin Won-sik, the Minister of National Defense in Seoul, said in a written New Year’s message that Pyongyang will be made to face the realization that military threats against the country would mark “the beginning of its own downfall.” Late Sunday, the Defense Ministry responded to the North

Jan. 1, 2024

Defense chief apologizes over Dokdo's description as disputed territory in education material

South Korea's defense chief has apologized over the description of the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo as a disputed territory in the military's newly published educational material for troops. On Thursday, the ministry began recalling the basic educational material after President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed immediate corrections. The material had listed Dokdo among disputes between major countries around the Korean Peninsula, such as China, Russia and Japan. "As I made t

Dec. 29, 2023

Another Trump presidency won’t affect US-South Korea joint nuclear deterrence: defense chief

A change of administration in Washington is unlikely to sway South Korea-US joint deterrence of North Korea's nuclear threats, the national defense chief in Seoul said Thursday. Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik told reporters in a press conference that he doesn’t think the bilateral cooperation on nuclear deterrence will depend on which administration gets elected in the US, “whether it be Biden’s or Trump’s.” Responding to a question on concerns that Donal

Dec. 29, 2023

Defense Ministry under fire for labeling Dokdo ‘area of territorial dispute’

South Korea’s Defense Ministry came under heavy criticism Thursday for calling the nation’s easternmost sovereign islets of Dokdo as an “area of territorial dispute,” in its latest military education material for soldiers. President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the ministry to “immediately correct” the labels in the textbook and said the “mistake should have never happened and should not be repeated.” Yoon’s orders came mere hours after the minist

Dec. 28, 2023

Defense chief calls for vengeance in event of N. Korean provocation

South Korea's defense chief on Tuesday instructed Navy officials to mercilessly bury North Korean sailors at sea in the event of another North Korean provocation. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the remark as he inspected the new 2,800-ton ROKS Cheonan frigate, which was deployed for operations to the headquarters of the Navy's Second Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday. Shin told Navy officials and sailors to "mercilessly bury (the enemy) at sea if t

Dec. 26, 2023