S. Korea, UAE stage combined anti-terrorism drills

South Korea's military contingent in the United Arab Emirates has conducted its first combined exercise of the year with its host nation's troops, officials said Tuesday, amid efforts to boost military ties. The Akh unit recently staged the exercise in the Middle Eastern country to boost joint capabilities in ground-based and maritime anti-terrorism operations, according to the officials. The two sides held various drills, including those on hostage rescue operations, sniper shooting a

Feb. 13, 2024

S. Korean Army to relax policy on retrieving bullet casings

South Korean military said Wednesday that it is planning to revise the Army regulation on retrieving casings of bullets used in marksmanship training, by deleting the part mandating soldiers to collect every single casing. The military is planning to revise Article 46 of the current Army regulation that states "soldiers must retrieve 100 percent of the used casings at the firing ranges and submit them" to "soldiers must retrieve the used casings at the firing ranges and submit the

Feb. 11, 2024

Defense minister back from Middle East with $3.2b deal

Shin Won-sik, South Korea’s Minister of National Defense, wrapped up his three-country Middle East trip with large defense industry deals. Shin struck a deal to export some $3.2 billion worth of ballistic missile interceptor system known as Cheongung II in a meeting with his Saudi counterpart, Khalid bin Salman Al Saud. The deal -- first floated about a month after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Saudi Arabia in October last year -- was finalized at the meeting of the defens

Feb. 7, 2024

South Korea to set up command for defense against North Korean nuclear threats

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense is mulling a plan to establish a new command for countering North Korean nuclear threats in Seoul. The plan would involve expanding the existing Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters for responding to nuclear and weapons of mass destruction threats to South Korea, according to the Defense Ministry on Tuesday. The JCS headquarters was set up in January last year. The Defense Ministry said the new command would oversee South Korea’s “three-

Feb. 6, 2024

S. Korea to mass-produce 155 mm extended-range artillery shell

South Korea will mass-produce a 155-millimeter extended-range artillery shell this year after successfully completing its development in a yearslong project, the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration held a meeting with ammunition maker Poongsan at the company's research center in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, to officially conclude the development project launched in 2014 after the shell was assessed as combat suitable last Aug

Feb. 6, 2024

N. Korea slams Seoul defense chief's anti-Pyongyang warning as 'catalyst' for clash

North Korea on Monday denounced South Korea's defense minister over his latest warning that Pyongyang will face the end of its regime in the event it wages war, calling his remark a "catalyst" for a physical clash. Minister Shin Won-sik warned on Jan. 24 that Pyongyang will face the end of its regime in the event it wages a war, hours after North Korea fired several cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea. During his visit to the 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju Air Base, 112 kilometers

Feb. 5, 2024

S. Korea, UAE agree to strengthen defense cooperation

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to bolster their bilateral cooperation in defense and the arms industry, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met with his UAE counterpart, Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Mazrouei, earlier in the day in the UAE, where they discussed ways to strengthen their cooperation as "special strategic partners," the ministry said. The two defense chiefs also reviewed the achievements of their defense co

Feb. 2, 2024

Indonesians investigated for suspected theft of South Korean fighter jet secrets

Some Indonesian employees at the Korea Aerospace Industries have been barred from leaving South Korea on suspicions they were trying to steal secrets about KF-21 fighter technology. KAI reported the employees to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration last month after becoming suspicious of an attempted leak. The administration, a public affiliate of the Ministry of National Defense, said that an investigation is underway to determine if the information the employees are suspected of stor

Feb. 2, 2024

Women, old men in military? Korea debates solutions for looming conscript shortfall

Reforming military obligations for men in South Korea has always been a flashpoint for heated debate. But recently, fuel has been added to the fire with the emergence of two rather radical ideas. One idea came from professor Choi Young-jin of Chung-Ang University in Seoul, who proposed in an op-ed for a local daily the formation of a "senior army" composed of men aged 55 to 75 to address an anticipated shortfall in military personnel. In South Korea, which faces the nuclear-armed, bell

Feb. 2, 2024

US F-16 fighter crashes near base in South Korea

An F-16 Fighting Falcon belonging to the 8th Fighter Wing at the US air base in Gunsan, a port city in western South Korea, crashed at around 8:41 a.m. Wednesday. The crash happened during a routine training and the pilot was recovered after ejecting safely, according to Kunsan Air Base. “We are very thankful to the Republic of Korea rescue forces and all of our teammates who made the swift recovery of our pilot possible,” Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, 8th FW commander, said in a release.

Jan. 31, 2024

North Korea fires cruise missiles again after just 2 days

North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles on Tuesday into waters near its western coast, just two days after test-launching its new cruise missiles from a submarine. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired “several” cruise missiles into the sea at around 7 a.m., the details of which are being analyzed by South Korean and US intelligence authorities. “We are closely coordinating with the US and maintaining heightened vigilance and surveillance,”

Jan. 30, 2024

New JSA barracks named after 2 US Army officers killed in 1976 axe incident

A new front-line barracks of the United Nations Command Security Battalion has been named after two US Army officers who were killed in a 1976 axe incident as a tribute their sacrifices, the command said Tuesday. Major Arthur Bonifas and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett were killed by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976, in the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone while trimming a poplar tree to secure a clear view. The "Bonifas & Barrett Barracks" for US officers in Cam

Jan. 30, 2024

North Korea claims of cruise missile performance likely exaggerated: JCS

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday said in a preliminary analysis it found North Korea’s claims of the capabilities of its new strategic cruise missiles to be exaggerated. The South Korean military detected North Korea launching cruise missiles at around 8 a.m. Sunday toward waters near the port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, the home to a North Korean base for submarines. “We are looking into the possibility that the flight time claimed by North Korea may h

Jan. 29, 2024

S. Korea to develop spy drone deployable from warships by 2028

South Korea aims to develop an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft deployable from warships by 2028, the state arms procurement agency said Monday, amid efforts to boost surveillance against North Korean threats. Last month, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a contract worth 143.3 billion won ($107.1 million) with defense company Hanwha Systems to develop the rotary-wing aircraft by December 2028. DAPA said the aircraft is designed to be deployed from warships, as well as Marine

Jan. 29, 2024

Seoul denies avoiding drills near border

The Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Sunday denied reports that the South Korean military was still putting off drills near the shared border, as per the 2018 inter-Korean agreement that North Korea withdrew from earlier. “Our military can hold drills according to its own plan, only there aren’t such plans yet,” a senior defense ministry official told The Korea Herald. “There is no official decision or guidance in place that is preventing our military from conduct

Jan. 28, 2024

North Korean cruise missiles fired near submarine base: JCS

North Korea on Sunday morning fired several cruise missiles into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS said in a message to reporters that the missiles landed at around 8 a.m. in waters near the North Korean port city of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, on the eastern coast. “Our military is closely coordinating with the US side amid heightened vigilance and surveillance, and watching for further signs and activities

Jan. 28, 2024

North Korea claims cruise missile upgrade

The missiles North Korea launched toward the sea west of the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday had been its new strategic cruise missiles, according to its official media. The state official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that it had test-fired the new strategic cruise missile, whose name Pulhwasal-3-31 means fire arrow in Korean, for the first time the previous day. North Korea’s Missile General Bureau said the first testing of the cruise missiles came as a “part of the proces

Jan. 25, 2024

S. Korea begins production of spy drones for N. Korea surveillance

South Korea has begun production of medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles to enhance the military's surveillance over North Korea, the state-run procurement agency said Thursday. In December, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a 471.7 billion-won ($353.6 million) deal with Korean Air, South Korea's biggest airline, along with two defense firms, LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Systems, to manufacture advanced spy drones by 2028. The state-run Agency for Defense Development ini

Jan. 25, 2024

Seoul’s spy agency accuses China of major cyber attacks

South Korean spy agency on Wednesday reported a significant uptick in attempts of cyber attacks by foreign sources last year, waged mainly by North Korea and China. Chinese attacks tended to inflict more severe damage than North Korean ones, despite the latter being more frequent. The National Intelligence Service said cyber attacks against the public sector increased by 36 percent overall last year compared to the year before. North Korea accounted for 80 percent of those attacks, and China, 5

Jan. 24, 2024