Two American service members and a South Korean national working for the US Forces Korea (USFK) have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military said Thursday. A soldier at Camp Casey in the northern city of Dongducheon was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 on Wednesday after developing symptoms, according to USFK. Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, is where more than 100 infections have been reported among some 4,000 foreigners living in the city. Following a spike

South Korea's chief negotiator in defense cost-sharing talks with the United States pledged best efforts Thursday to conclude negotiations on all major points this week, as he departed for Washington for a new round of talks. Jeong Eun-bo and his US counterpart, Donna Welton, are set to meet in the US capital Friday for their first face-to-face talks on the sharing of the cost for stationing the 28,500 US Forces Korea since the administration of President Joe Biden took office in January. &quo

South Korea’s military started their COVID vaccine rollout Wednesday as health care workers at major military hospitals -- about 2,400 doctors, nurses and technicians -- lined up to receive AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines. The vaccination was the first for the military, though some Korean soldiers working for the US military stationed here received inoculations two months ago. More medical personnel working at bases nationwide will get the shots in stages, the military said. But the servi

South Korea and the United States will hold a new round of talks in Washington later this week on the sharing of the cost for stationing the US Forces Korea (USFK), the foreign ministry said Wednesday, amid expectations the two sides are close to a deal. Seoul's top negotiator, Jeong Eun-bo, and his US counterpart, Donna Welton, will meet in the US capital Friday, the ministry said, amid speculation that the two sides are nearing a multiyear deal for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in Kore

The defense ministry on Wednesday began administering coronavirus vaccines to military personnel, with doctors and other health care workers becoming the first recipient group, officials said. The medical staff at the Korean Armed Forces Yangju Hospital in the city of Yangju, some 50 kilometers north of Seoul, received COVID-19 vaccine shots under the first round of the inoculation campaign in the military. They are among around 2,400 health care workers at 16 military hospitals across the nat

Defense Minister Suh Wook met with the European Union's ambassador to South Korea on Wednesday and discussed ways to boost security cooperation including in anti-piracy missions off the coast of Somalia, his office said. During the meeting in Seoul, Suh and Maria Castillo Fernandez exchanged their assessments of the security circumstances on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and Fernandez vowed to do her best to help establish peace, according to the ministry. They also had consultations

South Korea and China agreed Tuesday to set up two more military hotlines to prevent incidents and enhance trust, Seoul's defense ministry said. The defense ministries of the two neighbors signed a revised memorandum of understanding on the establishment of direct communication lines between their air forces and navies, according to the ministry. Currently, Seoul and Beijing maintain three hotlines -- one between their defense ministries, and two between their air forces and navies. While the

A Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) officer in Seoul tested positive for the new coronavirus Tuesday, officials said. It marks the third COVID-19 case reported among people working at the JCS headquarters in Yongsan, central Seoul, after a civilian employee and another military officer were confirmed to have contracted the virus last month. Tracing is under way on people who had direct contact with the newly infected officer. The case came as South Korea and the United States are preparing to stag

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Seong-yong was to visit Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) on Tuesday to check the development of the country's first indigenous fighter jet, the military said. The visit to KAI, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, in the southern city of Sacheon comes as the final assembly of a prototype of the KF-X warplane is under way ahead of its planned rollout event in April. South Korea has been working on the 8.8 trillion-won ($7.9 billion) fighter project since l

Two American service members stationed in South Korea recently have tested positive for the new coronavirus, US Forces Korea (USFK) has said. One soldier, stationed at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, was confirmed to have been infected on Feb. 27, after providing a screening sample as part of the command's surveillance testing program, according to the USFK. He is in isolation at a facility for COVID-19 patients, and USFK and South Korean health authorities are

South Korea’s Navy saw its yearslong dream come true on Feb. 22, when the Ministry of National Defense approved a plan to build the nation’s first light aircraft carrier by 2033. But experts say that the Navy could do better to assure the skeptics opposing the 2 trillion-won ($1.8 billion) project.  First discussed in 1996, the project is strongly backed this time by a united Navy, with its chief appealing to the public that the weapon would help South

South Korea will showcase a prototype of the country's first indigenous fighter jet in April, the arms procurement agency has said. Jung Kwang-sun, heading the KF-X program at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said the planned rollout event will be a "landmark moment" for the country and the aerospace industry. "After working only with the blueprint so far, we will now have something we can actually see and test whether what we have been studying actually works,&q

South Korea and the United States are close to inking an agreement that could settle a prolonged dispute over how they should share the cost of maintaining 28,500 US troops here, the Wall Street Journal said Friday. The two allies, whose talks have continually fallen apart since September 2019 because of differences over how much of the burden Seoul should shoulder, are reportedly set to sign a five-year accord. Seoul would pay about $1.3 billion in the fifth year, almost half the cost of stat

The defense ministry said Sunday it transported a batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Ulleung Island in the East Sea to help inoculate local residents, where access through commercial transportation is relatively time consuming and difficult. The ministry said a batch of AstraZeneca's vaccine from the government's vaccine storage warehouse left Icheon, some 80 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and arrived at a Navy base on Ulleung via a CH-47D military transportation helicopter. After its landing, the

A total of 984 people have been approved to substitute their mandatory military service for other public service due to their religious and other personal beliefs since a related act took office in 2019, the military manpower agency said Friday. By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must carry out military service for about two years. But the National Assembly passed a bill allowing those who refuse to take up arms for religious or other personal beliefs to do other forms of service without