Park to hold summit talks with U.S., Chinese, Japanese leaders

South Korea's President Park Geun-hye will meet with the leaders of the United States, Japan and China later this week in Washington to coordinate how to deal with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.The back-to-back summits come after the U.N. Security Council slapped tougher sanctions on North Korea for carrying out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7.Tensions have also spiked on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea has

March 29, 2016

Lippert rejects Trump accusations that Korea gets defense free ride

U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert on Monday dismissed accusations by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump that South Korea is paying little to keep American troops on its soil.Without naming Trump, Lippert cited various reasons why the allegations aren't true, including the fact that South Korea shoulders 55 percent of all non-personnel costs and increases its defense spending by 3 to 5 percent annually."We feel very good about the resource sharing that we and the Republic of Ko

March 28, 2016

Seoul‘s defense chief calls for strong response to Pyongyang provocation

Defense Minister Han Min-koo called on a counter-artillery unit to "retaliate powerfully" against any North Korean provocations during a troop visit Monday.The trip to the multiple launch rocket system unit came as North Korea stepped up its artillery threats on Seoul. North Korea said last week it has conducted the final test-fire of a large-caliber MLRS that is ready for combat deployment.The imminent deployment of the multiple 300-millimeter caliber rocket launching system reportedly places h

March 28, 2016

Seoul building up counter-artillery system against Pyongyang‘s multiple rocket launchers

South Korea is building up a comprehensive counter-artillery system to guard against growing threats posed by North Korea's multiple rocket launchers, the defense ministry said Monday.North Korea said last week it has conducted the final test-fire of a large-caliber multiple rocket launching system that is ready for combat deployment.The imminent deployment of the multiple 300-millimeter caliber rocket launching system reportedly places half of the South Korean territory within its range."Agains

March 28, 2016

Trump‘s remarks fuel debate over Seoul’s nuclear armament

Republican front-runner Donald Trump's remarks about allowing South Korea to nuclearize are adding fuel to a simmering debate over Seoul's potential nuclear option to counter Pyongyang's escalating threats, observers here said Monday.In an interview with the New York Times on Friday, the U.S. real-estate magnet said he would be "open" to allowing the South and Japan to build nuclear arms against the North and China. He argued they would go nuclear anyway if the U.S. keeps its "current path of we

March 28, 2016

Korea, U.S. agree to strengthen disaster relief, security

South Korea and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation in disaster control and security crisis management areas in the face of heightened terrorism concerns, the government said Sunday.The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said the two sides concurred during the weeklong disaster and security management meeting in Washington that there is a need to forge a close communication channel to exchange information on terrorism and ways to respond to disaster situations.The understandin

March 27, 2016

Korea‘s top military commander checks frontline combat readiness

South Korea's top military commander checked the combat readiness of frontline troops on Friday as inter-Korean tensions have flared up in the face of North Korea's continuing provocations.Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin visited the VIII Corps and Navy 1st Fleet earlier in the day to look into their military preparedness, the military said. The Army corps is in charge of guarding the eastern part of the heavily militarized border while the Navy fleet defends the East Sea area. "N

March 25, 2016

S. Korea, U.S. conduct naval training to commemorate inter-Korean naval clashes

The South Korean and United States navies conducted a joint training exercise on Friday, in remembrance of the sailors and soldiers killed in recent clashes with North Korea, the military said FridaySouth Korea commemorated the deaths from the three past inter-Korean skirmishes near the western sea border area on Commemoration Day, which has been designated on the fourth Friday of March.In 2010 alone, 48 soldiers were killed in two military conflicts between the rival Koreas. In March that year,

March 25, 2016

Korea, Japan's Navy chiefs to discuss military collaboration

The naval chiefs of South Korea and Japan will hold talks next week on ways to increase collaboration in joint search and rescue exercises, anti-piracy operations and other military issues, the Navy said Thursday.The high-level talks between South Korea's Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jung Ho-sub and Adm. Tomohisa Takei, chief commander of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, will be held on Monday in the Gyeryongdae military headquarters in central South Korea.The main topics of discussion w

March 24, 2016

Military in development of armor piercing ammo-proof vest

The military is developing a new bulletproof vest that could resist armor-piercing ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.The Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, the state-run quality control agency for defense goods, is currently gauging the level of technology needed for the body armor development, the ministry said in a release to the media.It was in response to a report by the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea that accused several defense officials of taking

March 23, 2016

Military seeks to develop new patrol craft to bolster front-line defense

South Korea is seeking to develop a highly mobile patrol craft as part of its efforts to bolster naval defense along the maritime boundary with North Korea, military officials said Wednesday.Through a civilian-military cooperative project, the military plans to develop a 20-ton "high-speed interceptor craft" that can travel faster than 60 knots per hour, or 111 kmph, the officials said.The military plans to launch the project within this year and produce a prototype in five years so they can be

March 23, 2016

Defense chiefs of Korea, Indonesia to hold talks

The defense ministers of South Korea and Indonesia will hold talks on Wednesday to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in Seoul's project to develop an indigenous fighter jet and other bilateral defense issues, the Ministry of National Defense said.Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Indonesian counterpart, Ryamizard Ryacudu, will meet in the ministry's compound in central Seoul for the talks, which officials here say will focus on strengthening bilateral defense ties.Topping the agenda is ensu

March 23, 2016

Korea, U.S. conducting joint naval drills against

The navies of South Korea and the United States kicked off a four-day joint naval exercise Tuesday to enhance their readiness against potential military provocations by North Korea.The joint maritime exercise, scheduled from Tuesday to Friday, is part of the ongoing Foal Eagle annual field training exercise the allies launched two weeks ago.Some 50 naval vessels and submarines from both countries joined the exercise in the Yellow and East seas, according to the Navy here.A group of South Korean

March 22, 2016

Korea, U.S. military chiefs inspect U.S. aircraft carrier

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Lee Soon-jin and Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the chief commander of American troops stationed in South Korea, jointly inspected a U.S. aircraft carrier on Monday that is participating in a combined military drill here.The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), arrived in South Korea earlier in the month to join the Foal Eagle field training, along with its 7,000-strong carrier strike group. The allies kicked off the annual joint ex

March 21, 2016

Korea to roll out new patrol boats, toughen sea border defense

South Korea's Navy will launch new patrol boats to bolster defense along the tension-prone western maritime sea border with North Korea, the military said Monday.The Navy will start work to build the 200-ton guided missile and gun armed patrol boats. The boats are updated versions of the Yoon Young-ha-class boats that are already in service with the armed forces.Seoul is expected to launch some 20 of these patrol killer guided B (PKG-B) boats in the coming years to replace the existing fleet of

March 21, 2016

400 U.S. troops to deploy to Korea as part of force rotation

About 400 U.S. troops will deploy to South Korea later this summer to help deter North Korean aggression, the Department of the Army announced Sunday.The troops with the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division will make a rotational deployment to the Asian ally, the department said in a statement."Our Soldiers and units are skilled, tough and stand ready around the clock to defend America. They are ready ... to deter North Korean aggression," Lt.

March 21, 2016

Seoul voices concern to int‘l bodies over Pyongyang missiles

South Korea has expressed its concern to relevant international organizations over North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches, putting further pressure on the communist regime, a government source said Sunday.In a letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization, South Korea said the North's launchings of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles earlier this month were "dangerous" as they came without prior warning.Under international con

March 20, 2016