Military vows to respond to any NK provocation

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo vowed strong responses to any aggression from North Korea, blaming the North for disappointing the expectations of those wishing for peace on the peninsula.  “We will forcefully respond to any attack from North Korea, without hesitation. We will keep under control the escalating tensions between the two Koreas,” Jeong said Thursday at an event to thank Korean War veterans. Hours earlier the military said it had yet to detect

June 18, 2020

US flies spy plane over Korean Peninsula to monitor N. Korea

A US surveillance aircraft flew over South Korea, an aviation tracker said Thursday, the latest in a series of flights to monitor North Korea amid Pyongyang's threat to take military action against Seoul. The US Air Force's RC-135W Rivet Joint was spotted in skies above the capital area, Aircraft Spots tweeted, without specifying the exact time of the operation. The US Navy's EP-3E and US Forces Korea's RC-12X were also recently spotted flying over the peninsula, according to military source

June 18, 2020

US flies spy planes over Korean Peninsula amid heightened tensions

The United States flew surveillance aircraft over South Korea on an apparent mission to monitor North Korea, a military source said Wednesday, amid escalating tensions between the two Koreas. "The US Navy's EP-3E and US Forces Korea's RC-12X were spotted flying over the capital area," the source said. The flight came as North Korea has been ratcheting up tensions on the peninsula, signaling a move to abolish an inter-Korean military tension-reduction deal signed in 2018. Earlier in

June 17, 2020

N. Korea will pay price if it takes actual military action: Defense Ministry

South Korea's military warned Wednesday it will make sure that North Korea "pays the price" if it actually takes military action against the South. The Joint Chiefs of Staff statement came hours after North Korea said it will redeploy troops to an inter-Korean industrial park in the western border town of Kaesong and the Mount Kumgang joint tourism zone on the east coast. The North also said it will restore guard posts removed from the Demilitarized Zone separating the two sides and

June 17, 2020

Seoul says no mention of USFK pullout

There has been no talk whatsoever of scaling back the number of US troops stationed here, a Defense Ministry official confirmed Tuesday. The issue resurfaced here after the US announced it was reducing its military presence in Germany. “Nothing has been discussed on that matter,” the Seoul official said under customary condition of anonymity, echoing what South Korea’s chief negotiator for the defense cost-sharing negotiations with the US had said earlier. US President Dona

June 16, 2020

S. Korea pushing to spend more on home-grown weapons: defense chief

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Monday the government is pushing to spend more money on buying arms developed by South Korean companies to help them cope with the growing economic fallout from the new coronavirus. Jeong made the remark during a meeting with chief executive officers of the country's leading defense firms, referring to the cancellation of foreign defense expos and suspension of export talks in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. "We are putting efforts to spend more o

June 15, 2020

After 75 days on furlough, USFK Korean employees return to work

Thousands of South Korean employees for the US Forces Korea returned to work Monday following months of unpaid leave, after Seoul and Washington agreed upon a wage deal amid their stalled defense-cost sharing negotiations. More than 4,000 South Korean workers had been on the furlough since April 1, as Seoul and Washington failed to reach an agreement on a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) that stipulates how much Seoul will pay for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong USFK. But the furlough was

June 15, 2020

Trump wants to pull out troops from S. Korea, Japan, other allies: ex-US envoy to Germany

US President Donald Trump was "very clear" that he wants to bring US troops home from South Korea, Japan and other allies, his former ambassador to Germany said, stressing Americans are "tired of paying too much" for the defense of other countries. Richard Grenell made the remarks in an interview with the German newspaper Bild earlier this week while confirming a plan to pull out 9,700 US troops from Germany -- about 30 percent of the total 34,674 US troops in the European

June 12, 2020

Defense chief calls for strict security against illegal entry

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo on Thursday called for strict surveillance against illegal entry, his office said, following the military's security failures over illegal Chinese entrants on small boats. During his visit to the Army's Second Operations Command in the southeastern city of Daegu, the defense chief ordered the military to "intensively" carry out a series of measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring. Last month, eight Chinese arrived in the western coastal

June 11, 2020

Military conducts scaled-down firing drill amid heightened tensions with N. Korea

The military carried out a firing drill off the east coast Thursday, officials said, amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula with the North threatening to treat South Korea as an enemy. The exercise had originally been scheduled for last month but was postponed due to bad weather amid speculation that officials could have put it off to avoid angering North Korea because Pyongyang reacted angrily to a similar drill earlier last month. The North could protest this week's exercise too.

June 11, 2020

S. Korea, US conducted missile defense exercises as planned in H1: defense minister

South Korea and the United States have already carried out joint air and missile defense exercises as scheduled earlier this year, the defense minister said Wednesday, even though the two sides postponed an annual springtime drill due to the coronavirus. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo disclosed during a meeting of top military commanders that the South and the US conducted a combined Air Force combat readiness posture drill and a missile defense system integration exercise "normally as

June 10, 2020

Ministers visit Air Force unit at forefront of military‘s tech-based reform

South Korea’s defense and science ministers on Tuesday visited an Air Force unit that has been developed as a “test bed” for the military‘s reform with cutting-edge technologies, the defense ministry said. The visit to the 20th Fighter Wing in Seosan, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul, by Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Science Minister Choi Ki-young came as a series of projects are under way at the base to transform the forces into a smaller yet smarter militar

June 9, 2020

Military officer tests positive for coronavirus, total infections at 54

A military intelligence command officer tested positive for the new coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections among the military population to 54, officials said Tuesday. The latest COVID-19 patient is a major at the Defense Security Support Command headquartered in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, the officials said, adding the route of his infection and contact tracing are under way. Currently, 96 service personnel are quarantined in accordance with health authorities' guid

June 9, 2020

Trump continually reassessing US overseas military presence: White House

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump is continually reassessing the American overseas military presence, the White House said Monday following reports that Trump plans to partially withdraw troops from Germany. The reports that Trump is slashing the US military presence in Germany from 34,500 troops to no more than 25,000 have renewed concerns about possibly similar plans for the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea. The issue with South Korea has especially been tied to ongoing negotiations betw

June 9, 2020

[News Analysis] Would US pull troops from S. Korea?

After Washington’s decision to cut its military presence in Germany, local experts said Monday that it is unlikely the United States will pursue a similar course of action here. But the South Korean government should be ready for anything given US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable style, they added. 　 In a surprise move, Trump ordered the Pentagon to reduce the number of US troops in Germany by roughly a third, to 25,000, according to the Wall Street Journal on Friday. Seoul

June 8, 2020

[Eye Plus] Honoring the brave on 70th anniversary of Korean War

Every June, South Korea commemorates the 1950-1953 Korean War that cemented the division of the Korean Peninsula.  This year marks the 70th anniversary of the war that began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded the South. Three foreign veterans are buried at the Seoul National Cemetery built to honor the brave soldiers and patriots who fought to defend Korea.  Two Chinese Korean veterans who fought on the front line during the Korean War are buried at the Graveyard for Foreigners

June 6, 2020

[Weekender] Coming back home, seven decades after war

Nearly 120 South Korean soldiers who perished during the Korean War may return home later this month, ending a long journey from North Korea via the United States. Their remains have been kept for nearly two years now at the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency since arriving from the North in July 2018, when Washington received from Pyongyang its war remains that also included Korean soldiers, following their historic first summit in June the same year. Their belated homecoming, if realized,

June 6, 2020

US continues to urge S. Korea to show flexibility in defense cost talks: official

WASHINGTON -- The United States continues to urge South Korea to show "flexibility" in negotiations over sharing the cost of the American troop presence there, notwithstanding a recent agreement to have Seoul pay for Korean workers on US bases, a State Department official said Thursday. The allies have for months tried to reach a new Special Measures Agreement stipulating how much South Korea will contribute to the cost of keeping 28,500 American troops stationed on the peninsula. T

June 5, 2020

S. Korean military to conduct postponed maritime combined arms drill next week

South Korea's military is set to carry out a maritime combined arms drill next week as part of its ongoing efforts to hone the skill of its forces, official sources said Thursday. The drill, which was originally planned for last month, was put off due to poor weather conditions, will involve the Army, Navy and the Air Force. The live fire training will take place on June 11 at a beach in Uljin, 330 km southeast of Seoul, on the east coast. The military said that despite the delay, the size of

June 4, 2020

USFK raps local daily for false report, vows commitment to conditions-based OPCON transfer

The US Forces Korea (USFK) stressed Thursday that South Korea and the United States are fully committed to a transfer of the wartime operational control, heavily criticizing a local newspaper for its recent "falsely speculated" report on last year's combined exercises. On Wednesday, the evening daily Munhwa Ilbo reported that USFK Commander Gen. Robert Abrams prematurely departed the Wartime Command Post during an initial operational capability (IOC) test in August last year, as he w

June 4, 2020