Gen. Kim Yo-hwan, chief of the Army's Second Operations Command, has been nominated to become the country's new Army chief, the defense ministry said Thursday.Kim, 58, a specialist in field operations with broad experience in the Army, will succeed Gen. Kwon Oh-sung, who offered to resign on Tuesday, holding himself responsible for the brutal death of an Army conscript in April. "After the approval of the Cabinet during a weekly meeting slated for Friday, President Park Geun-hye is expected to a

Aug. 7, 2014

South Korea will dispatch a Navy destroyer to Libya on Thursday as the country starts to evacuate South Koreans from the African country amid a worsening security situation there, the foreign ministry said.The dispatch came after the government issued a top-tier travel alert for the violence-ravaged country last week, requiring South Koreans based in Libya to evacuate. "The (4,400-ton) Munmu the Great will leave Oman's Port of Salalah in the afternoon to arrive in the sea of Libya around mid-Aug

Aug. 7, 2014

Halting all training and daily tasks, all military personnel from commanders to draftees will receive a one-day special human rights education this week following a series of tragic incidents in barracks, the defense ministry said Thursday.Last week, an Army private first class, who died in April from asphyxiation after being hit by his senior comrades and choking on some snacks he had been eating, was found to have long suffered brutal physical, mental and even sexual abuse. In June, an Army se

Aug. 7, 2014

South Korean officials accused North Korea of being hypocritical on Tuesday, responding to Pyongyang's condemnation of the South's military over the death of a bullied young Army conscript.The 23-year-old Army private first class died in April after allegedly being hit in the chest by his colleagues at their barracks while eating snacks, which led a chunk of food to get stuck in his airway. The private, identified only by his surname Yoon, was found to have suffered chronic bullying. The inciden

Aug. 5, 2014

The military prosecution said Tuesday it will bring an additional charge of sexual assault against one of the six soldiers accused of harassing and beating their junior conscript to death.The 23-year-old Army private first class, surnamed Yoon, died in April after allegedly being hit in the chest by his colleagues at their barracks while eating some snacks. The assault caused a piece of food to obstruct his airway, leading him to die of asphyxiation.Four of the alleged assailants were indicted o

Aug. 5, 2014

The defense minister apologized Monday over the death of a soldier who long suffered from severe assaults and abusive treatment by his comrades in his barracks, vowing to reform the military's culture to prevent any recurrence. In April, a 23-year-old Army private first class, surnamed Yoon, died after allegedly being hit in the chest by six of his colleagues at their barracks of the 28th Division in Yeoncheon, just south of the inter-Korean border, while eating some snacks.The assault caused a

Aug. 4, 2014

Concerns are escalating in South Korea over possible delays in the development of the F-35 fighter jet as this could hinder Seoul’s project to deploy 40 of the radar-evading aircraft from 2018-2021.The U.S-led multinational F-35 development program has recently been in the media spotlight due to a set of accidents, most recently on June 23, when one of the warplanes’ engines caught fire before takeoff.Apart from the hardware issues, the development of certain software could face delays of up to

Aug. 1, 2014

The military prosecution arrested a retired colonel last Wednesday on charges of leaking the secret blueprints of the Joint Chiefs of Staff building to a construction firm without security clearance, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.The retired official, surnamed Kim, is alleged to have allowed the firm to construct anti-electronic magnetic pulse facilities in the JCS building in Seoul and offered the building’s layout for the job.The prosecution has also been investigating a sergeant major, s

July 31, 2014

South Korea on Wednesday offered its decommissioned 1,200-ton corvette to Colombia in a move to enhance bilateral military relations and cooperation in the defense industry, Navy officials said.Decommissioned in 2011 after some 28 years of service, the corvette Anyang was offered to Colombia’s Navy during a handover ceremony at a naval base in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province. The corvette was renamed Narino, the surname of Colombian independence hero Antonio Narino. It was the first time for K

July 30, 2014

The United Nations Security Council will meet next week to deal with North Korea’s recent spate of missile and rocket launches, government sources said Wednesday.The 15-member Security Council is expected to meet on Tuesday, when it will hear details from a sanctions committee about the enforcement of U.N. resolutions which ban the North’s nuclear and missile programs, according to sources. The committee, which reports to the Security Council every 90 days, was established in 2006 after the Nort

July 30, 2014

South Korea and the United States will relocate the U.S. military headquarters in Seoul to south of the capital as planned because it is “a pledge to the people,” Seoul‘s defense chief said Tuesday. In 2004, the allies agreed to relocate the Yongsan Garrison, the sprawling U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul, and the 2nd Infantry Division north of Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital, by the end of 2016.“The plan to relocate the U.S. bases will b

July 29, 2014

South Korea and the United States will relocate the U.S. military headquarters in Seoul to south of the capital as planned because it is "a pledge to the people," Seoul's defense chief said Tuesday. In 2004, the allies agreed to relocate the Yongsan Garrison, the sprawling U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul, and the 2nd Infantry Division north of Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital, by the end of 2016."The plan to relocate the U.S. bases will b

July 29, 2014

North Korea possesses the world’s largest number of submarines, followed by the U.S., according to a U.S. online media outlet.Business Insider said that the North has a total of 78 regular and midget submarines, while the U.S. has 72 submarines. Its analysis is based on data from the Global Firepower, a military power evaluation organization.China ranked third with 69 submarines, followed by Russia with 63 submarines and Iran with 31 submarines. South Korea has only 14 submarines while Japan has

July 28, 2014

The U.S. has yet to make any official request to South Korea regarding the deployment of its global missile defense system to the peninsula, Seoul’s Ambassador to Moscow Wi Sung-lac said in a media interview last week.In the interview with Russia’s Interfax news agency, Wi reiterated Seoul’s position that the South would not join the U.S.-led MD program, which Russia and China believe could be mobilized to shoot down their missiles.“South Korea will develop its own MD system in consideration of

July 28, 2014

Two Army privates who were on the military's list of soldiers "requiring extra care" have died after apparent suicides, the Army said Monday, sounding an alarm for the country's troop management.A 21-year-old private, identified only by his surname Park, was found hanged in a restroom of his barracks in the central part of the country at about 8:10 p.m. on Sunday. He was immediately taken to a military hospital, but was pronounced dead some three hours later."After joining his unit on June 20, h

July 28, 2014