American troops stationed in South Korea will fly the combat drone Gray Eagle in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, officials said Wednesday."U.S. Forces Korea is currently operating the Raven at the battalion level and the Shadow at the brigade level," an official at the Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Division said, referring to the hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicle and the reconnaissance drone. "In wartime, the USFK's 2nd Infantry Division will deploy the Gray Eagle," the officia

Jan. 27, 2016

The U.S.' stalled decision over the export of a key GPS system is causing a major delay in South Korea's plan to introduce Taurus missiles by the end of this year, sources said Tuesday.The U.S. government is currently delaying its decision on whether to approve the export of a military GPS receiver for the local project to arm its fighter jets with the made-in-Germany air-to-surface missiles, military and defense procurement officials said.Any decision on the matter is expected to come after Aug

Jan. 26, 2016

The Navy chief ordered maritime forces Tuesday to stand with full combat readiness for the possibility of unexpected military provocations by North Korea."The enemy has always launched provocations in manners and timings that are hard for us to predict," Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jung Ho-sub said during his visit to the 1st Fleet based on the east coast.Jung inspected the maritime defense posture of the maritime forces in the East Sea area during the visit which came after North Korea's lat

Jan. 26, 2016

Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Monday South Korea needs to consider the deployment of the U.S.' advanced defense system THAAD, reflecting growing security threats from North Korea's emerging nuclear and missile capabilities. "Speaking from the military's perspective, there's enough need to review it because our (defense) capabilities are limited," the defense minister said during his appearance in a news program by MBC, a mainstream broadcasting channel."The issue of THAAD should be considere

Jan. 25, 2016

South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to hold talks among their military chiefs in February, an official here said Monday, in the aftermath of North Korea's fourth nuclear test earlier in the month.The three countries are pushing to hold a video conference next month among Gen. Lee Sun-jin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his American and Japanese counterparts -- Gen. Joseph Dunford and Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano -- a JCS spokesman said during a regular briefing.Details of t

Jan. 25, 2016

The South Korean forces dispatched to the United Arab Emirates have conducted around 30 combined exercises with the local troops since the unit was first stationed in the Arab country five years ago as part of bilateral military exchanges, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.South Korea sent the 150-strong "Ahk" unit to the UAE in January 2011 to train special forces and conduct joint military drills there. The 10th rotating troops are currently in service in the UAE. Since the deployment, the

Jan. 22, 2016

The Navy's anti-piracy troops dispatched to the Somali coast have escorted an increasing number of nonmilitary vessels through the piracy-prone region following their successful mission to free a South Korean freighter taken hostage by Somali sea rovers in 2011."Since the Dawn of the Gulf of Aden operation, the number of vessels the Cheonghae Unit escorted in the sea near the Gulf of Aden has doubled," a military official said. Under the much-published operation, the 300-strong anti-piracy unit

Jan. 21, 2016

South Korea officially kicked off its multibillion-dollar project Thursday to produce homemade fighter jets over the next decade.Under the Korean Fighter Experimental project by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, contractor airplane maker Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. will come up with six units of a homegrown prototype fighter by 2021.The test fighters will undergo flight tests for four years before the development project is completed by mid-2026, according to DAPA.Based on the

Jan. 21, 2016

The U.S. THAAD missile defense system would provide South Korea with great protection against growing missile threats from North Korea, a U.S. think tank report said Wednesday.The Center for Strategic and International Studies made the suggestion in a report on the U.S. rebalance to Asia policy, saying the Asian nation "has no area defense capabilities against North Korean ballistic missiles."Chinese demarches have made a potential THAAD deployment a "sensitive issue" for Seoul, it said."The ROK

Jan. 21, 2016

Defense officials and experts gathered here together Tuesday to gauge North Korea's nuclear capability following the communist country's recent nuclear test. Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo, Vice Minister of National Defense Hwang In-moo and 17 other defense and military officials held a workshop at the defense ministry with seven experts on North Korea, mostly from state-run research centers including the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.Technical assessment of the recent nuclear t

Jan. 19, 2016

South Korea's arms procurement agency will concentrate efforts on upgrading the country's Patriot missiles and developing long-range ground-to-air missiles to counter North Korea's threats, its chief said Monday.North Korea declared that it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test on Jan. 6. The outside world suspects the test might have been based on a conventional atomic bomb, or a boosted fission bomb at best, but nevertheless the recent test showed the communist country is advancing its n

Jan. 18, 2016

South Korea said Monday it will further limit access by its nationals to a joint industrial park in North Korea to ensure their safety following the North's claimed test of a hydrogen bomb last week.The Unification Ministry said that it plans to only permit entry by a "minimum" number of South Koreans to the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city of the same name. The move will be effective starting Tuesday.A total of 124 South Korean firms are running factories with about 54,000

Jan. 11, 2016