Following its first public debut of F-35A fighter jets, South Korea kick-started its efforts to deploy the fifth-generation stealth fighters amid growing uncertainty over the security landscape ahead of its summit with North Korea. US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin unveiled its first batch of F-35A fighter jets to be delivered to South Korea on Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. The event was celebrated by the allies’ senior acquisition and defense officials, including South Korea’s Vice Defe

Defense March 29, 2018

Following a monthslong investigation into the crash of an aircraft participating in an international air show in Singapore in February, the Air Force announced Wednesday the accident was caused by a pilot error during preparation for take-off. According to the Air Force, the pilot from the Black Eagles aerobatic team failed to abide by the emergency procedure when the T-50 Golden Eagle aircraft skidded off the runway at Changi Airport during the 2018 Singapore Airshow on Feb. 6. The Air Force sa

Defense March 28, 2018

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his willingness to abandon nuclear weapons and hold a summit with the United States during his first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua said Wednesday. “It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il-sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong-il,” Kim said, referring to his father and grandfather.“The issue of denuclearization of

North Korea March 28, 2018

　Since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the United States has struck various types of nuclear deals with countries seeking to develop their own nuclear weapons. 　The most well-known examples are negotiations with Iran and Libya. The former is the latest country with which the US signed a nuclear-freeze deal -- though it is being criticized as a “failure” by President Trump -- while the latter is touted as a shining example for denuclearization by hard-liners in the Trump administration 　Wit

North Korea March 27, 2018

Expectations are growing over South Korean K-pop artists’ performances in Pyongyang next month, with a South Korean art troupe scheduled to stage a joint performance with their North Korean counterparts. 　South Korean K-pop artists and other celebrated singers will hold a joint concert with the North Korean artists on April 3 -- two days after the South Korean art troupe is to stage its own performance in Pyongyang, according to a presidential protocol aide. 　Under the working title of “Spring C

North Korea March 25, 2018

Since the Syngman Rhee administration in 1950, the South Korean government has had the authority to issue a decree and mobilize the armed forces in order to maintain public order in the event of disasters and emergencies. 　But the “garrison decree” has often been criticized as an excuse to suppress democratic protests, such as during the authoritarian administration of the 1970s. The late President Park Chung-hee mobilized troops several times to crack down on anti-government protestors. 　Now th

Defense March 22, 2018

Despite high hopes for the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, their first-ever encounter carries the risks of ending in failure and bringing tension back to the Korean Peninsula, a prominent US security scholar warned. 　John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago, said there is a chance that the Trump-Kim summit may not materialize, or if the talks fail, the two counties could return to the level of animosity of last year.  　“It’s not

North Korea March 21, 2018

The South Korean military and US Pentagon on Tuesday issued differing statements regarding the duration of their upcoming joint military exercises, raising suspicions of an attempt by Seoul to contain possible fallout from the resumption of the drills.　According to the Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff, the postponed joint military exercises will start on April 1, with the field-training Foal Eagle exercise that is to be halved in length from two months to one followed about

Defense March 20, 2018

A postponed South Korea-US joint military exercise will resume April 1, South Korean and the US militaries said Tuesday, with its field-training Foal Eagle to be halved in length from two months to one.South Korea’s Defense Minster Song Young-moo and his US counterpart Jim Mattis decided to resume the annual computer-simulated Key Resolve exercise and field training Foal Eagle exercise, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry and US-led Combined Forces Command. South Korea`s President Moon Jae-in

Defense March 20, 2018

A timetable for the postponed South Korea-US joint military drills is to be announced Tuesday, the allies’ militaries said Monday, amid speculations that the scope of the annual exercise may be scaled down due to a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea. 　According to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and US-led Combined Forces Command, the resumption of the computer-simulated Key Resolve and field training Foal Eagle drills will be announced late Tuesday morning. 　“As far as I know,

Defense March 19, 2018

　With South Korea and the US scrambling to present a united front ahead of historic summits with North Korea, the allies’ top security advisers held a trilateral meeting with their Japanese counterpart to avoid “past mistakes” in dealing with the decadeslong standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. 　According to Cheong Wa Dae on Monday, National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong met with his US counterpart H.R. McMaster and Japan’s Shotaro Yachi in San Francisco for a trilateral meeting ove

Foreign Affairs March 19, 2018

The South Korean government said Friday it plans to hold a senior-level official meeting with North Korea this month in a bid to pave the way for the third inter-Korean summit to be held at the southern side of a cross-border village in April. The Presidential Preparation Committee for the Inter-Korean Talks said the summit would focus on removing nuclear weapons from North Korea, easing military tensions between the two Koreas and establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. “We affirm

North Korea March 16, 2018

South Korea and the United States stressed that the summit between Pyongyang and Washington will proceed as planned, downplaying speculation that the meeting will be postponed following a major shake-up in the Trump administration. Seoul’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday that there has been no request from the US to postpone the summit scheduled to take place by May -- a decision made by Trump after meeting with South Korean envoys who delivered North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s in

North Korea March 16, 2018

The top US commander in South Korea may leave his post as early as this summer amid concerns over the lack of seasoned Korea experts in Washington following a series of shake-up inside the Trump administration. Citing multiple government sources, local daily JoongAng Ilbo reported Wednesday that Gen. Vincent Brooks, would leave the US Army in July or August after serving about two years as the commander of the US Forces in South Korea and US-South Korea Combined Forces Command.  Gen. Vincent Bro

North Korea March 15, 2018

　Former US Forces Korea commanders being linked to the post of US ambassador to Seoul is fueling speculations Washington could resume a hard-line stance on North Korea, should the planned summit fail to bring results. 　According to sources in Washington and Seoul, former USFK Commander James Thurman and his predecessor Walter Sharp have been considered as candidates to fill the ambassadorship that has been vacant for more than a year. 　In light of US President Donald Trump’s preference for milit

North Korea March 15, 2018