South Korea's defense ministry said Sunday that allegations by Pyongyang of mistreatment of North Korean fishermen are a gross distortion of the facts, while expressing regret over threats made by the communist country over the incident.The response came after North Korean news outlets on Saturday released an interview of the three-person crew claiming the South Korean Navy beat them and tried to persuade them to defect.The ministry said in a statement that the seizure of the small fishing boat

March 30, 2014

South Korea signed a $420 million contract with the Philippines on Friday to sell 12 light attack FA-50 fighters, further boosting efforts to expand its presence in the global warplane market.The Philippines is to receive the aircraft within 38 months after the deal goes into effect, according to Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s sole aircraft maker. The deal is to take effect after Manila wires a deposit to KAI within two months of the signing.The signing ceremony was attended by Korea

March 28, 2014

The United States has demanded that South Korea accept a six-fold increase in the purchase price of F-15K’s night censors, citing discontinued production, a senior defense ministry official said Thursday. The South Korean Air Force currently operates 60 F-15K Slam Eagles acquired from U.S. aerospace contractor Boeing through two deals in 2002 and 2008. It received the last jet in 2012.Lockheed Martin installed 10 Tiger Eye sensor suites in the first batch of 10 jets in 2009 to help them fly at a

March 27, 2014

China's military told South Korea last week that Beijing is willing to increase "multi-level, multi-field" defense exchanges with Seoul, the Chinese defense ministry said Tuesday.Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of general staff of China's People's Liberation Army, made the remarks at a meeting in Beijing last Friday with Park Sam-duck, president of the Korea National Defense University."China is willing to make joint efforts with the ROK (South Korea) to keep promoting multi-level and multi-field m

March 25, 2014

The foreign and defense ministers plan to visit the National Assembly Friday to urge the swift ratification of a revised pact on sharing the cost of keeping U.S. troops here, officials said.In January, the allies renewed their agreement on co-shouldering the financial burden of keeping 28,500 American forces here, but the agreement has been pending in the parliament due to the objections of the main opposition party. The previous five-year deal expired at the end of last year.According to the of

March 21, 2014

At least two MV-22 Osprey squadrons will take part in one of the largest-ever joint amphibious landing drills to be staged by South Korea and the United States, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.The allies plan to open this year's Ssang Yong (double dragon) exercise next week on the southeast coast of Korea as part of their broader annual military training code-named Foal Eagle.There will be an MV-22 aerial assault exercise on April 2, involving about 2,000 troops, the official said."There will

March 20, 2014

Cyberwarfare officials were found to have posted some 30,000 political comments over the last several years in an apparent violation of the military rules on political neutrality, a government source said Wednesday.The figure is double the previous number, which the Ministry of National Defense announced in its interim report last December after referring 11 officials to the military prosecution for posting comments that might have affected the 2012 presidential election.“The ministry’s Criminal

March 19, 2014

South Korea’s arms acquisition watchdog said Monday it has discovered that 241 local defense contractors fabricated about 2,800 test results of parts and raw materials for military equipment, vowing tighter regulations. The Defense Agency for Technology and Quality announced the results after the inspection of 280,199 items provided by parts manufacturers in the last seven years, expanding a previous test that divulged 125 irregularities by 34 companies.Some of the parts fell short of meeting th

March 17, 2014

South Korea placed the remains of 437 Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War in coffins on Monday before sending them back to their homeland for final burial, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said.South Korean and Chinese officials have been working together to repatriate the remains of Chinese war dead that have been temporarily buried at a burial ground in Paju, just south of the demilitarized zone separating two Koreas.The first such repatriation comes after South Korean President Park

March 17, 2014

South Korea will upgrade its present PAC-2 air defense system and buy PAC-3 missiles next year to improve its anti-ballistic missile capability against North Korea, the state arms procurer said Wednesday.South Korea currently operates 48 PAC-2 missiles imported from Germany, and seeks to adopt the advanced interceptors as part of plans to build the indigenous Korea Missile Defense System. The missiles have an interception rate of less than 40 percent.The project aims to buy "hit-to-kill" PAC-3 m

March 12, 2014

A Korean-made K-11 airburst assault rifle exploded during a demonstration live-fire session on Wednesday, leaving three soldiers with minor injuries. The explosion came just three months after the military resumed its procurement of the rifle, which went through rigorous tests and readjustments following a rifle blast in October 2011.“We planned to conduct three demonstration sessions. In the first and second sessions, we fired 60 shots and there was no problem. But the problem occurred during t

March 12, 2014

U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday it will continue to pay its South Korean employees despite a delay in Seoul‘s parliamentary approval of a bilateral defense cost-sharing pact. Seoul and Washington renewed in January their Special Measure Agreement on sharing the cost of stationing U.S. forces here.The pact has not been approved by the South Korean parliament due to opposition lawmakers’ objection over a jump in Seoul‘s share, sparking concerns that South Korean personnel may be forced to take un

March 12, 2014

South Korea will upgrade its present PAC-2 air defense system and buy PAC-3 missiles next year to improve its anti-ballistic missile capability against North Korea, the state arms procurer said Wednesday.    South Korea currently operates 48 PAC-2 missiles imported from Germany, and seeks to adopt the advanced interceptors as part of plans to build the indigenous Korea Missile Defense System. The missiles have an interception rate of less than 40 percent.   The project aims to buy "hit-to-kill"

March 12, 2014