Korean defense contractors seek opportunities at Malaysian show

KUALA LUMPUR ― South Korean defense equipment makers are seeking ways to expand their presence in the international market at this year’s Defense Services Asia in Kuala Lumpur. Organized by Defense Services Asia Exhibition and Conference Sdn Bhd., DSA is the world’s fifth-largest defense industry show. More than 850 companies from 42 countries are displaying their wares at the show, which ends Thursday, and the organizers expect around 25,000 people to visit the four-day event. Korean firms are

April 17, 2012

N.K. shows off new long-range missile

As widely expected, North Korea unveiled an advanced long-range ballistic missile on Sunday, confirming that it has continued developing its warhead delivery capabilities at the expense of its starving people.During the ceremony marking the centenary of the birth of the communist state’s founding father Kim Il-sung, it revealed an intercontinental ballistic missile that measures 18 meters in length and two meters in diameter.Experts believe that the new missile appears to have a similar or longe

April 16, 2012

Remains of Korean War soldier to be buried

U.S. Army Cpl. Patrick R. Glennon will be buried this week at Arlington National Cemetery, six decades after he was apparently killed during heavy fighting with Chinese forces in the Korean War, the Department of Defense said Monday.Glennon was listed as missing on Nov. 1, 1950, while holding a defensive position near Unsan, a North Korean town close to the border with China, according to the department‘s POW/Missing Personnel Office.In 2007, the North handed over six boxes of remains of America

April 10, 2012

U.S. and allies on alert as N.K. prepares for rocket launch

Seoul and Washington are closely monitoring North Korea’s rocket launch developments as increased activities have been detected around the launch facility.On Thursday CNN reported that a rise in activities was detected at the launch site in Dongchang-ri on the west coast of North Korea.According to CNN, satellite photographs of the site taken at the end of March showed marked differences from those taken on March 28.The latest photographs showed that the direction of the launch tower had changed

April 6, 2012

N.K. submarines drop below Seoul’s radar

Several North Korean submarines have disappeared after departing from bases on the eastern coast.According to reports, three or four North Korean submarines recently departed from bases on the east coast and have since remained outside South Korean surveillance. The submarines are thought to be 370-ton shark-class vessels. The North Korean submarine used in the attack on the Cheonan in March 2010 was a 130-ton salmon-class vessel. North Korea has between 70 and 80 submarines ranging from 1,500-t

April 5, 2012

S. Korea to strike Pyongyang if N. Korea attacks Seoul

South Korea will attack Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, in retaliation if the communist country strikes Seoul, the capital of the South, an official said Monday.South Korea has set up the principle of tit-for-tat retaliation in dealing with North Korea's possible aggression against Seoul and its adjacent areas, the senior military official said in a recent meeting with reporters.South Korea

April 2, 2012

Pentagon noncommittal about calls for return of Apache units to Korea

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The Pentagon remained mum Friday about the possible return of combat and scout helicopters to South Korea with the war in Afghanistan winding down.The commander of U.S. forces in Korea, Gen. James Thurman, has argued for such a move to the Hawaii-based Pacific Command and most recently on Capitol Hill.“Gen. Thurman has provided his assessments to PACOM, the Joint Staff, the Army ― and now Congress in his testimony; however, no decisions have been made,” an official at

April 1, 2012

U.S. offers 20 retiring choppers to S. Korea

The U.S. Third Marine Amphibious Corps has offered to provide the South Korean Marine Corps with 20 transport helicopters.According to the Ministry of National Defense, the Okinawa-based U.S. Marine Corps unit has offered to transfer the ownership of 20 CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters that are to be decommissioned. “We have not been able to confirm whether the U.S. Department of Defense shares the position. At present it is a development between the commander of the Third Marine Amphibiou

March 29, 2012

N. Korea honing capability to attack Seoul: USFK commander

The commander of U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula expressed concern Wednesday that North Korea’s new leadership will trigger a military conflict based on a “miscalculation.”Before the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. James Thurman said the North continues improving its ability to attack the South Korean capital of Seoul. “The first thing I worry about every day is a miscalculation on somebody’s part that causes a conflict that he hadn’t planned for,” he said at a hearing on the security c

March 29, 2012

Cheonan-survivors-3.26(Mon)

Some continue to raise doubt despite conclusive findings Two years have passed since the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk by North Korea, but the soldiers who survived the attack continue to be haunted by the incident.“I think of Sergeant Cha Seok-gyun the most. We served together on the Cheonan, and he was a dong-gi (people who have graduated from or joined an organization at the same time),” said Petty Officer First Class Kim Hyo-hyung, who was a weapons petty officer of the sunken warshi

March 25, 2012