The military said Thursday it will pursue a homegrown missile defense system and a greater strike capability as part of a 315 trillion-won ($271 billion), five-year plan starting next year. About 106 trillion won goes to bolstering defense capabilities to build weapons, such as anti-missile systems and ballistic missiles, while the rest is set aside to cover operating costs. “We will have ironclad defense against North Korean fire targeting Seoul and the surrounding areas,” the Mi

Defense Sept. 2, 2021

North Korea has asked for China’s Sinovac COVID-19 shots offered by COVAX to be redirected to other countries low on vaccines, UNICEF said Tuesday, referring to a global vaccine program. “The DPRK Ministry of Public Health has communicated that the 2.97 million doses being offered to the DPRK by COVAX may be relocated to severely affected countries in view of the limited global supply of COVID-19 vaccines and recurrent surge in some countries,” a UNICEF spokesperson told Voice

North Korea Sept. 1, 2021

The military is spending drastically more on soldier welfare in its budget for next year by providing better meals, pay and terms for soldiers’ savings, the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday in its proposal that links most of the 55.2 trillion won ($47.5 billion) spending to maintenance. Soldiers, who take part in mandatory military service that lasts as long as 21 months, make up more than half the country’s 550,000-strong military. The National Assembly will start looking

Defense Aug. 31, 2021

The Ministry of National Defense is not living up to its promise to better protect human rights, members of a civilian-led advisory panel said Monday. The 88-member panel – of which 15 have either left or decided to walk out – was put together by the Defense Ministry in late June, amid a public outcry following the death of an Air Force master sergeant who died by suicide after alleged sexual abuse. Her family claims cover-ups led to her death. “I had thought the ministry was

Defense Aug. 30, 2021

The floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition People Power Party are expected to debate the contentious “fake news” bill one last time before Monday’s plenary session. National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug had arranged a meeting of the two sides on Sunday, for the second time in less than a week to help settle their differences over the bill that would impose drastically higher penalties on media organizations for “fake news.&rdq

Politics Aug. 29, 2021

Peace and freedom was the prize of the Korean War that South Korea earned, and it should be a reminder for all South Koreans that its vibrant democracy with a strong economy came at a cost, Colombian veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War said Thursday, during an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul. Separated by the Pacific Ocean, Colombia is the only Latin American country to field ground troops and a warship to help South Korea fight back North Korea and China during the war, which sti

Defense Aug. 26, 2021

The Navy will hold training sessions with the UK’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and its escort ships in waters off the Korean Peninsula as the carrier strike group called off a port call in South Korea amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. “Given the pandemic crisis, we will take part in naval exchanges involving humanitarian and disaster relief, from Monday to Wednesday next week,” the ministry said, noting there were i

Defense Aug. 25, 2021

The US is being forced back to former President Barack Obama’s strategic patience on North Korea, as Pyongyang rebuffs any diplomatic outreach and shows no signs of returning to nuclear negotiations, experts said Wednesday. During his visit to South Korea that ended Tuesday, US special representative on North Korea Sung Kim reiterated that Washington is ready to meet with Pyongyang anytime, anywhere and without preconditions. But Pyongyang is likely to leave Washington hanging, according

North Korea Aug. 25, 2021

United States Forces Korea said Sunday it has not been asked to house evacuees fleeing Afghanistan, where the Taliban swiftly took over the government after the US began withdrawing troops. The Wall Street Journal reported the previous day that the US was looking at American bases in Japan, Korea, Kosovo, Bahrain and Italy as the US expands efforts to fly thousands of Afghan evacuees, who feel threatened by the Taliban insurgents because of their association with US forces. “To date, USF

Defense Aug. 23, 2021

Hong Beom-do, a highly revered independence fighter against the Japanese occupation of Korea, was laid to rest at home Wednesday, 78 years after his death in Kazakhstan. The previous day, President Moon Jae-in posthumously awarded him the highest national order of merit. At a burial ceremony held at Daejeon National Cemetery, Moon called Hong a war hero and the commander-in-chief of the Korean Liberation Army, whose return he said “gives hope to South Koreans working together to find thei

Defense Aug. 21, 2021

South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Noh Kyu-duk, will meet separately with his US and Russian counterparts to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. The South and US are seeking diplomacy with the North to resume nuclear talks, amid Pyongyang’s strong protest against the Seoul-Washington military drills that are due to end next week. The North, which routinely describes the drills as a rehearsal for invasion, warned t

North Korea Aug. 20, 2021

US President Joe Biden said Thursday in the US that his country is committed to the mutual defense treaty with South Korea, noting the situation in South Korea is different from Afghanistan, where the Taliban swiftly took over the government after the withdrawal of US troops. The US, whose military still has wartime operational control of South Korea’s armed forces, has been pressed over its commitment to collective security as chaos grips Afghanistan. “We are in a situation where

Foreign Affairs Aug. 20, 2021

South Korea and the US should not miss a rare opportunity to gradually turn North Korea into their ally by helping out Pyongyang, which is desperate to find a way out of its worst economic crisis, said Leem Ho-young, former deputy commander at the allies’ Combined Forces Command. “Let’s think beyond denuclearization. We have to eventually bring North Korea to the alliance-led order. That’s the ‘Grand Bargain,’” the retired four-star Army general said in

North Korea Aug. 15, 2021

The presidential office is monitoring North Korea for a further reaction to the South Korea-US military exercises as the four-day preliminary drills took off Tuesday, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said in response to Pyongyang’s accusation earlier in the day that the drills threatened peace. Previously the Defense and Unification ministries had communicated with their North Korean counterparts by phone twice a day, but the North did not respond to a call from the South on Tuesday a

North Korea Aug. 10, 2021

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party wants the US to endorse its initiative to rebuild ties with North Korea, the Washington Post said Friday, citing party leader Rep. Song Young-gil. Seoul is eager to pick up the momentum for diplomacy with Pyongyang by using the hotlines that the two Koreas reconnected a week ago. The North, which severed them a year ago, had reached out to the South, which sees an opportunity to resume what it calls a trust-building process to revive inter-Korean dial

North Korea Aug. 6, 2021