S. Korea stages live-fire drills with US military engineers near inter-Korean border

South Korea staged live-fire tank drills Thursday near the inter-Korean border, involving US military engineers, the Army said, as the allies' major annual springtime exercise came to a close. The drills took place as part of a weeklong training at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, in connection with the combined Freedom Shield exercise designed to bolster deterrence against the North's nuclear and missile threats. Some 300 pe

March 14, 2024

S. Korean, US defense officials visit Samsung's chip plant

South Korean and US defense officials overseeing technology policies visited Samsung Electronic Co.'s semiconductor plant this week, Seoul's defense ministry said Wednesday, amid efforts to bolster information and communication technology cooperation. Cheon Seung-hyun, head of the defense ministry's Intelligent Information Policy Bureau, and Leslie A. Beavers, the Pentagon's principal deputy chief information officer, made the visit Monday at the plant in Suwon, 30 kilometers

March 13, 2024

Iraqi general visits S. Korea to examine KAI's Surion helicopter

A senior Iraqi Army general visited South Korea last week to look over a homegrown utility helicopter, sources said Wednesday, raising speculation over the Middle Eastern country's potential purchase of the aircraft. Lt. Gen. Samir Zaki Hussein Al-Maliki, commander of Iraq's Army Aviation Command, arrived in South Korea on March 4 for a four-day visit to meet with South Korean military and defense company officials, according to the sources from the defense industry and relevant author

March 13, 2024

Top general visits Air Force missile defense center amid N.K. threats

South Korea's top military officer on Sunday called for responding "overwhelmingly" against any enemy provocations as he visited an Air Force missile defense operations center, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo made the call amid concerns of North Korean saber-rattling during the annual Freedom Shield exercise between South Korea and the United States, which began Monday for an 11-day run. "If the enemy undertakes a provocation, don't

March 10, 2024

S. Korea to dismantle support foundation for Kaesong complex as early as next week

South Korea is expected to pass a proposal to shut down a support foundation for the now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong as early as next week, the unification ministry said Sunday. The revision to the decree on support for the Kaesong Industrial Complex will be presented at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, which will entrust the foundation's tasks to the civilian sector, according to the ministry. The foundation -- set up in 2007 to support th

March 10, 2024

S. Korea seeking to establish ground-based military rocket launch site

South Korea's arms procurement agency said Wednesday it is seeking to establish a ground-based military rocket launch site to accommodate future satellite launches. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration unveiled the plan in a policy report to President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the military plans to launch dozens of small-sized reconnaissance satellites by 2030 in addition to its first spy satellite launched last year. While the military currently operates a maritime launch site, there h

March 6, 2024

South Korea-US military drills ‘war exercises’: Pyongyang

The annual military drills conducted by South Korea and the US were “frantic war exercises,” North Korea said Tuesday, warning of consequences. “The US and the Republic of Korea have once again launched provocative, large-scale joint military exercises that amplify the unpredictability of the situation in the Korean Peninsula,” North Korea’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement carried by the official state media, the Korean Central News Agency, referring to Sout

March 5, 2024

US warship enters naval base in Jeju for replenishment purpose

A US Navy destroyer arrived at a naval base on the southern island of Jeju on Tuesday for a replenishment purpose, the South Korean Navy said. The USS Higgins Arleigh Burke-class destroyer entered the base to replenish supplies and for crewmembers' rest, a day after South Korea and the United States began their annual combined Freedom Shield exercise for an 11-day run. A South Korean Navy official said the warship's arrival is unrelated to the exercise and there are no plans for joint

March 5, 2024

USFK F-16 fighter jets join multinational drills in Thailand

A group of F-16 fighter jets operated by the US Forces Korea departed South Korea last month to join a multinational exercise in Thailand, the aircraft's unit has said. The unspecified number of F-16s assigned to the US 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, 178 kilometers south of Seoul, left the country on Feb. 22 to take part in the annual Cobra Gold exercise, the unit recently said. The exercise led by the United States and Thailand began last Tuesday and is set to end later thi

March 5, 2024

S. Korea, US begin key annual military drills amid NK threats

South Korea and the United States kicked off a major combined military exercise Monday to reinforce deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats amid concern Pyongyang could use the maneuvers as a pretext for provocations. The annual Freedom Shield exercise got under way for an 11-day run amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's continued saber-rattling, including artillery firings near the western sea border and a series of missile launches. The springtime exercise ma

March 4, 2024

S. Korea's 1st spy satellite transmits 'good-resolution' images of central Pyongyang

South Korea's first military spy satellite has successfully transmitted "good-resolution" images of central Pyongyang back home following the satellite's launch in December, military sources said Sunday. The first indigenous South Korean military spy satellite was placed into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 2, allowing South Korea to independently gain satellite imagery on the North Korean military and leadership. According to the sources, the ele

March 3, 2024

US investigations into F-16 crashes in S. Korea ongoing amid public safety concerns

The US military's investigations into three recent F-16 fighter jet crashes in South Korea remain ongoing, a US Air Force official has said, as safety concerns remain unabated over the series of crashes. Last May, a US F-16 crashed in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, followed by another crash into the West Sea in December and a third one into the waters in January. All three pilots from the crashes ejected from the aircraft and were rescued. Ten months on since the May crash, its c

March 3, 2024

S. Korea takes part in multinational drills in Thailand

South Korea's Navy and Marine Corps joined the United States and Thailand in a large-scale annual multinational exercise in the Southeast Asian country to enhance amphibious landing capabilities and humanitarian operations, officials said Saturday. The Cobra Gold exercise took place on a coastal area in Thailand on Friday, involving three landing ships of the South Korean Navy, including the 4,900-ton No Jeok Bong vessel, six armored vehicles, F-16 fighter jets and C-130 transport aircraft,

March 2, 2024

S. Korea, US defense chiefs vow to sternly deal with arms transfers between N. Korea, Russia

The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States spoke by phone Wednesday and vowed to sternly deal with North Korea's arms transfers to Russia in coordination with the international community, Seoul's defense ministry said. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, held the phone talks amid rising concerns over North Korea's supplying munitions and missiles to Russia to replenish its weapons stockpile for use in Ukraine. "They shared concerns

Feb. 28, 2024

Russia sending North Korea food in return for arms: Seoul defense chief

North Korea has provided Russia with 6,700 shipping containers’ worth of artillery shells over the past six months, according to Seoul’s defense chief Shin Won-sik. In return, the North is believed to have received from Russia enough food and other essentials to fill about 10,000 shipping containers over the same period, Shin said. In a press conference on Monday, Shin noted that the North Korean military factories for producing arms for Russia were operating at full capacity. &ldquo

Feb. 27, 2024

US fighter jet drops fuel tanks into Yellow Sea in 'in-flight emergency'

A US F-16 fighter jet dropped two of its fuel tanks into waters off South Korea's west coast as it experienced an "in-flight emergency" before safely returning to base, a US Air Force unit said. The F-16 of the 8th Fighter Wing jettisoned the tanks into the Yellow Sea as it experienced the emergency at about 10 a.m. after taking off for a routine sortie from Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, 178 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the unit. The pilot still managed to return safely to

Feb. 22, 2024

Defense chief downplays concerns over US possibly taking softer stance on NK nukes

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Thursday downplayed concerns over the US potentially shifting to a softer stance on North Korea's nuclear program amid the possibility that former US President Donald Trump could win the November presidential election. Shin made the remark as a ruling party lawmaker raised concerns that calls for seeking a freeze of the North's nuclear program, instead of its denuclearization, could gain momentum in the US as Pyongyang pushes to advance its interconti

Feb. 22, 2024

New evidence of North Korean military aid to Russia: Ukrainian police official

In a latest sign of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, a senior Ukrainian police official Sergei Bolvinov said Wednesday that part of a weapon that Russia used to attack Ukraine had Korean writing on it. “Russians continue to use weapons from North Korea in the Kharkiv region,” he said in a Facebook post, alongside a photograph of the wrecked weapon suspected of having been sourced from North Korea. The National Intelligence Service in Seoul believes North Korea beg

Feb. 16, 2024

[Contribution] Looking back on 35 years of ties on the occasion of Serbia's National Day

By Nemanja Grbic, Serbian ambassador to Korea As the Embassy of Serbia in Seoul proudly celebrates its National Day together with the small Serbian community living here, as well as our Korean friends, it is an opportunity to once again recall the close and decadeslong friendly relations that so happily exist between our two countries and two peoples. Statehood Day or National Day is celebrated every Feb. 15 in Serbia to commemorate the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804, which e

Feb. 15, 2024

North Korea conducts fifth cruise missile launch of year

North Korea on Wednesday conducted a launch of cruise missiles for the fifth time since the start of the year. “Our military detected several unidentified cruise missiles off the northeast coast of Wonsan, Gangwon Province, at around 9 a.m. the details of which are being closely analyzed by the intelligence agencies of South Korea and the US,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The JCS said the South Korean military was “working closely with the US side amid heig

Feb. 14, 2024