Articles by Shin Hyon-hee
Shin Hyon-hee
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Park calls for international security mechanism
President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday underscored the need for a multinational security mechanism in East Asia, saying it would help bring about not only a unification of the Korean Peninsula but also lasting peace and stability in the region. In her keynote speech to the Seoul Defense Dialogue, she pointed to what she called the Asian paradox as a threat to global peace -- regional instability stemming from the perennial standoff on the peninsula and persistent territorial and historical spats b
Defense Sept. 9, 2015
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Forum to draw world defense officials, experts
High-level defense officials from some 30 countries and global organizations are set to gather in Seoul this week to discuss pressing security issues around the region and the world and explore ways to counter emerging unconventional threats. Hosted by the Defense Ministry, the Seoul Defense Dialogue will kick off on Wednesday for a three-day run with the theme “70 years of the Post-WWII Era and the Division of Korea.” The vice-ministerial conference is its fourth edition this year.The participa
Defense Sept. 8, 2015
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‘Expensive weapons purchases to burden next government’
By Shin Hyon-heeThe Park Geun-hye government is pushing to bring in advanced, pricey military assets without a budget commensurate with the size of the projects, heaping a financial burden of billions of dollars onto its successor, a report said Monday.After analyzing 22 weapons acquisition programs each worth 500 billion won ($415 million) or more, Rep. Baek Kun-ki of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy said the incumbent administration is expected to spend some 13.6 trillion won for defens
Defense Sept. 7, 2015
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Park’s drive for unification faces headwinds
In the wake of President Park Geun-hye’s much-hailed visit to China, Seoul is poised to speed up its groundwork for a future unification with North Korea by intensifying diplomatic efforts with key neighbors and expediting humanitarian exchanges across the border. South Korea will initiate various discussions “in the near future” on how to bring about the peninsula’s unification, Park said, adding that the issue was also the focal point of her summit with President Xi Jinping last week. “We agre
Foreign Affairs Sept. 6, 2015
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Japan, U.S. welcome trilateral summit plan
Japan on Thursday expressed its resolve for discussions to arrange a trilateral summit with South Korea and China, while the U.S. lauded the three countries’ efforts to mend fences in the face of steadfast historical and territorial tension. Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping announced after their meeting on Wednesday they will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Seoul in late October or early November. The event is also likely to set the stage for first-ever talks between Park
Foreign Affairs Sept. 3, 2015
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Park’s visit illustrates evolving China ties
The summit Wednesday between Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping demonstrated the two countries’ evolving, increasingly multifaceted ties while building momentum for Seoul’s efforts to play a more proactive role in peninsula issues and regional diplomacy. During the meeting, Xi touted the bilateral relationship has developed to its “best-ever” in terms of politics, economy, trade, people-to-people exchanges and other areas, thanks to the two leaders’ cooperation. Park, for her part, expresse
Foreign Affairs Sept. 2, 2015
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Border island residents call for pullout of loudspeakers
By Shin Hyon-heeResidents of a border island in the West Sea have turned in a petition calling for the removal of loudspeakers installed there for anti-Pyongyang broadcasts that sparked a recent exchange of fire between the two Koreas, military officials said Wednesday. The appeal was made Monday to the Defense Ministry by about 100 people living on Gyodong Island in Ganghwa County, Incheon, located just south of the Northern Limit Line, the skirmish-prone maritime border with North Korea. “They
North Korea Sept. 2, 2015
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Park touts inter-Korean deal as unification step
President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday touted a recent breakthrough between the two Koreas, saying its thorough implementation starting with a fresh round of reunions of separated families would bring the peninsula closer to lasting peace and eventually a unification.The sides are scheduled for a working-level meeting on Sept. 7 at the border village of Panmunjeom to arrange the family reunions, following their three-day high-level talks that ended last Tuesday. “If we safeguard the hard-won agreeme
North Korea Sept. 1, 2015
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Court rules against release of U.S. forces crime data
An appeals court ruled Tuesday that the government does not have to unveil the information of cases involving U.S. soldiers if it has relinquished its right to exercise jurisdiction over them under the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, upending the original judgment. Under SOFA, which governs the legal status of some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed across the southern part of the peninsula, South Korea can primarily invoke judicial power when a serviceman is implicated in crimes, except
Defense Sept. 1, 2015
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Military deserters down 40% in three years
The number of South Korean servicemen who deserted from the military has steadily declined by more than 40 percent over the past three years, a report said Monday, reflecting ongoing efforts to improve barrack lives. According to the report submitted by the High Court for Armed Forces to Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, 415 people broke barracks last year, up about 41.4 percent from 708 in 2011. The annual figures have been nudging downward, albeit w
Defense Aug. 31, 2015
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New war plan to pave way for preemptive strike on N.K.
South Korea and the U.S. have forged an upgraded operational plan that will pave the way for a preemptive strike such as in a contingency case involving the use of weapons of mass destruction, military sources said Thursday. The OPLAN 5015 was formulated last June to replace OPLAN 5027 by the chairmen of the two countries’ Joint Chiefs of Staff. The allies have, since 1974, been assessing their joint defense plan every year, primarily to devise better responses to North Korea’s military threats.
Defense Aug. 27, 2015
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Seoul eases military alert as tension abates
By Shin Hyon-heeSouth Korea has lifted its highest-level military readiness posture as more signs were detected of frontline North Korean forces cranking back into their bases in the wake of cross-border dialogue, military officials here said Wednesday. The decision coincides with the North’s ongoing reinstatement of submarines, air cushion vehicles, 76.2-milimeter artillery guns and other firearms and gunners. Seoul, in turn, ceased its anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts along the Military D
North Korea Aug. 26, 2015
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Seoul to send military officials to Beijing parade
South Korea plans to dispatch senior military officials to China’s World War II anniversary parade next week despite lingering controversy over the two countries’ growing security cooperation, military sources said Wednesday. The three-member delegation will be led by Lt. Gen. Chung Kyung-doo, head of strategic planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the sources said. Defense Minister Han Min-koo also said he would send three executives including a three-star general at a parliamentary session la
Defense Aug. 26, 2015
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Soldier injured in DMZ mine blast
An Army staff sergeant was wounded in an explosion last weekend of a land mine presumed to have been buried by the South Korean military in the Demilitarized Zone, officials said Wednesday. The incident took place at 11:46 a.m. on Sunday in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, during a scouting mission around an area where the Army intentionally planted mines to deter a possible intrusion by North Korean troops. The staff sergeant, who was wearing galoshes and other protective gear, suffered a slight f
Defense Aug. 26, 2015
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Koreas set out to defuse military tension
Following a hard-fought breakthrough, the two Koreas began taking steps Tuesday to defuse tension on the peninsula, as the South halted anti-Pyongyang broadcasts along the border as of midday and the North lifted its “quasi-state of war” and was seen reinstating some frontline military forces. The broadcasts and wartime declaration came to an end at noon, hours after the two sides clinched a six-point agreement in which Pyongyang displayed regret over a recent land mine blasts in the Demilitariz
North Korea Aug. 25, 2015
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