Amid North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, Seoul and Washington will explore the possibility of additional sanctions and other ways to deter another major provocation during their summit next week, the U.S. ambassador here said Thursday. Mark Lippert, however, ruled out a stationing of advanced U.S. missile defense assets on the peninsula as an item on the agenda for Presidents Park Geun-hye and Barack Obama, though she is scheduled to visit the Pentagon during her trip accompanied

Foreign Affairs Oct. 8, 2015

Joint Chiefs of Staff chief Gen. Lee Sun-jin on Wednesday warned North Korea against escalating cross-border tension through nuclear and missile threats, pledging to beef up the South’s deterrence and take stern punishment in case of another provocation. At his inauguration ceremony, the newly minted chairman also vowed to establish “omnidirectional readiness,” saying the communist neighbor will continue to stage provocations at an unanticipated place and time. “Based on solid military readiness

Defense Oct. 7, 2015

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman nominee Lee Sun-jin drew fire during a parliamentary hearing Monday, as lawmakers questioned his controversial views on former presidents’ military coups. He was also grilled over a golf trip he took shortly after a North Korean land mine injured two South Korean troops in August.Controversy has been brewing after the 61-year-old Army general was found to have described former President Park Chung-hee’s 1961 coup as a “military revolution” in his master’s thesis in

Defense Oct. 5, 2015

Tension filled the room as a senior Seoul official sat at the negotiating table with his U.S. counterparts and a professional interpreter. Seeking to break the ice, he told them a story starting with a Korean proverb. Word for word, it was supposed to be “Too many boatmen steer a boat to the mountain.” Instead, the interpreter opted for what she believed was a more comprehensible expression, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” Yet the official, who had expected to hear “ship” or “mountain” to his

Foreign Affairs Oct. 2, 2015

Working beside society’s elite, they fly hundreds of thousands of miles every year on charter planes. They speak about pressing brainteasers with the top actors on the world stage. They have access to the heavily fortified Cheong Wa Dae and its inner workings, as well as those of other presidential offices around the globe. Despite their seemingly coveted call of duty, almost the only time they make the headlines is when they blunder. At times, they are bewildered by the convoluted, highfalutin

Foreign Affairs Oct. 2, 2015

More than 7,000 military executives and soldiers from about 120 countries gathered Friday in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, as the world’s largest sports competition among servicemen kicked off with the aim of promoting friendship and peace. Organized by the International Military Sports Council and supervised by Seoul’s Defense Ministry, the Military World Games’ set out for a 10-day run under the theme, “Friendship together, peace forever.”  South Korea`s guards of honor perform during

Defense Oct. 2, 2015

With unbridled speculation over North Korea’s missile launch next month, Seoul and Washington are stepping up efforts to avert its provocation by tightening monitoring, intensifying international cooperation and bringing U.S. strategic assets to the peninsula for a display of force. Though Pyongyang has hinted at carrying out nuclear and missile tests to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the inception of its ruling Workers’ Party on Oct. 10, no clear signs of any imminent liftoff have been d

North Korea Sept. 24, 2015

Prospects are growing gloomy for Korea’s push to develop an indigenous fighter jet after the country’s arms buyer was found to have failed to secure the transfer of core technologies from the U.S. firm selected to deliver next-generation warplanes. Last September, the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration agreed with Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. to acquire 25 technologies as part of their 7.3 trillion won ($6.1 billion) deal to purchase 40 F-35 radar-evading fighters to be

Defense Sept. 24, 2015

South Korea is seeking to create a special unit in the Army tasked with destroying North Korea’s nuclear weapons, long-range missiles and other strategic assets should an emergency break out, military officials said Wednesday. The brigade-level organization will be installed within the Army’s Special Warfare Command, with its primary mission being to “strike the enemy’s core strategic targets,” the command stated in a report submitted to the National Assembly’s defense committee for a parliament

North Korea Sept. 23, 2015

Senior diplomatic and security policymakers of South Korea and the U.S. gathered Wednesday in Seoul to assess the possibility of North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket and other provocations, and explore ways to better ward them off. The two-day Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue was led by Seoul’s Deputy Defense Minister Yoo Jeh-seung, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense Abraham Denmark and Elaine Bunn, each in charge of East Asia policy and nuclear and missile defense. Other

North Korea Sept. 23, 2015

Stationing an advanced U.S. missile defense unit on the peninsula will cost around 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion), the new Air Force chief of staff said Tuesday, though he reasserted that South Korea and the U.S. are not currently in talks over its purchase.“It should be about, give or take, 3 trillion won,” Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo said in response to Rep. Kim Kwang-jin of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy during a parliamentary audit at the Air Force’s headquarters in the Gye

Defense Sept. 22, 2015