Air Force insiders foresaw F-22 woes

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AP) -- Years before F-22 pilots began getting dizzy in the cockpit, before one struggled to breathe as he tried to pull out of a fatal crash, before two more went on television to say the plane was so unsafe they refused to fly it, a small circle of U.S. Air Force experts knew something was wrong with the prized stealth fighter jet.Coughing among pilots and fears that conta

Sept. 27, 2012

U.S. gov't informs Congress of possible sale of attack copters to Korea

The United States government has formally notified Congress of a plan to seek the sale of 36 advanced attack helicopters to South Korea.A deal under the Foreign Military Sales program, if sealed, would be worth up to US$3.6 billion.In two separate notifications to Congress, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency at the Pentagon provided details of proposed sales of Boeing's AH-64D Apache Longbow

Sept. 27, 2012

Defense budget up 5.1%

The government on Tuesday called for a 5.1 percent increase in its defense budget for next year to improve defense and the welfare of its soldiers.The Ministry of National Defense has drawn up a spending plan worth 34.6 trillion won for 2013, up from 32.9 trillion won this year.It plans to allocate 24.1 trillion to the operations and maintenance of its strategic military bases, which includes boosting the health and welfare of its soldiers, and providing other necessities such as high-tech train

Sept. 25, 2012

Korea to extend troop deployment in UAE, Somalia

The Korean government on Tuesday endorsed a motion to extend its troop deployment in Somalia and the United Arab Emirates for another year until the end of 2013. The Cabinet meanwhile approved a separate bill, calling for the withdrawal of most soldiers in Afghanistan this year except for a 70-strong unit to protect aid workers and embassy staff.The proposals are subject to parliamentary approval.Korea dispatched 310 troops to the Gulf of Aden off Somalia in 2009 as part of a multinational effor

Sept. 25, 2012

Pentagon: S. Korea has many options to help U.S. missile defense

A senior Pentagon official said Monday that South Korea has "a lot of ways" to help the U.S. missile defense system in Northeast Asia."Yes, there are a lot of ways one can contribute," Kathleen Hicks, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, said at a forum. "We do have dialogue with the (South) Koreans about how to contribute to missile defense."She was responding to Yonhap News Ag

Sept. 25, 2012

S. Korean Navy fires warning shots against N. Korean fishing boats

South Korea's Navy fired warning shots against North Korean boats operating south of the western sea border, military officials said, after raising the alert status in response to a number of ships violating the demarcation line over the past week.The North Korean boats retreated to north of the border upon the warning shots, officials said.The latest move comes as a growing number of North Korean

Sept. 21, 2012

New missile targets N.K. underground artillery bases

South Korea has developed a short-range ballistic missile aimed at destroying underground artillery bases in North Korea, a lawmaker of the parliamentary defense committee said Tuesday. The Joint Chiefs of Staff briefed committee members in a closed-door meeting Monday that the military has succeeded in developing the guided missile with a range of 100 kilometers and successfully conducted test-firing in May, according to a lawmaker who attended the briefing.The missile is designed to be fired f

Sept. 18, 2012

Defense budget for next 5 years to total W199.6tr

The Ministry of National Defense estimates that the country’s defense operations will require about 199.6 trillion won ($177.3 billion) for the 2013 to 2017 period.The figure is 13.3 trillion won larger than that estimated in the mid-term defense plans for the period between 2012 and 2016.The change was included in the 2013 to 2016 mid-term defense plans reported to the National Assembly on Wednesday. Of the total, about 33.3 percent of the estimated budget will be directed to improving the mili

Sept. 12, 2012

Korea, U.S. mull regular cyber warfare drills

South Korea and the United States are pushing to hold regular joint exercises and train professionals to guard against growing threats of cyber attack from North Korea, a senior Seoul official said Wednesday.Concerns over cyber attacks on military infrastructure and government and communications systems have mounted as Seoul believes Pyongyang was behind the jamming of GPS signals on civilian flights and commercial ships earlier this year and the hacking of government Web sites and banking syste

Sept. 12, 2012

2.7 tln won set aside to counter North's nuclear, artillery threats

The defense ministry will spend 2.7 trillion won (US$2.3 billion) over the next five years to secure tactical weapons to counter threats of North Korea's nuclear and artillery attacks, the state-run procurement agency said Tuesday.The Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA) held a meeting presided over by Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and approved the 61.4 trillion won budget for the 201

Sept. 11, 2012

U.S. expects S. Korean role in global missile defense

The United States hopes for greater contributions by South Korea and other allies to its push to bolster its missile defense networks around the world, a senior State Department official said Monday."Creating this new strategic environment depends on strong cooperation with our allies and partners. In order to make this vision a reality, President (Barack) Obama has made international cooperation on missile defense a key priority," said Frank A. Rose, deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of

Sept. 11, 2012

Korea holds defense drills near Dokdo

South Korea on Friday conducted defense drills in waters near the easternmost islets of Dokdo to prepare for any situation in which foreigners trespass in the territorial waters, amid a continued diplomatic standoff with Japan. The joint operation by Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard kicked off earlier in the day under a scenario in which the maritime police play a leading role if citizens of other countries attempt to approach and illegally land on the islets. After the one-day training, th

Sept. 7, 2012

WHO to permanently close Korean branch office

The World Health Organization will soon close down its South Korean office after deciding that the country, formerly a beneficiary of foreign aid, is no longer in need of its services, the government said Friday.Given that Korea has now become a major donor country, WHO officials concluded that its local branch is not necessary and should be shut down at the end of this month, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.Last year, the nation contributed a total of $10.5 million to the world

Sept. 7, 2012

Military searching for land mines swept from N. Korea

South Korean military have found 16 wooden-boxed landmines believed to be washed away from North Korea due to heavy rains, and are searching for similar mines near the heavily fortified border area, the Joint Chief of Staff said Tuesday. Front-line military units in Gyeonggi Province have collected 16 land mines, including 12 empty boxes, in downstream areas of the Imjin River and the Hantan River since mid-August, the JCS said.Officials suspect the mines made their way south due to swollen wate

Sept. 4, 2012

Korea to press China to verify torture claims

South Korea will press China to verify claims by a Seoul activist that he was severely tortured while in detention in China as the two sides hold regular talks on consular affairs this week, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Kim Young-hwan, 49, and three other South Korean activists were released in July after 114 days of detention in China. Since the release, Kim has claimed in Seoul that he had been tortured by Chinese investigators with beatings and electric shocks.The case is expected to lo

Sept. 4, 2012

N.K. shifting military’s economic control to cabinet

Control of North Korea’s economic projects is being shifted from the military to the cabinet, as the communist country gears up for far-reaching economic reform, a Seoul official said Tuesday.“There has been specific progress (related to the shift),” the Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity at a press meeting, referring to the North’s reported moves to strip the military of its grip on leading economic projects in the communist country.“There have been signs related to it

Sept. 4, 2012