South Korea and the United States have already carried out joint air and missile defense exercises as scheduled earlier this year, the defense minister said Wednesday, even though the two sides postponed an annual springtime drill due to the coronavirus. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo disclosed during a meeting of top military commanders that the South and the US conducted a combined Air Force combat readiness posture drill and a missile defense system integration exercise "normally as

South Korea’s defense and science ministers on Tuesday visited an Air Force unit that has been developed as a “test bed” for the military‘s reform with cutting-edge technologies, the defense ministry said. The visit to the 20th Fighter Wing in Seosan, some 150 kilometers south of Seoul, by Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and Science Minister Choi Ki-young came as a series of projects are under way at the base to transform the forces into a smaller yet smarter militar

A military intelligence command officer tested positive for the new coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections among the military population to 54, officials said Tuesday. The latest COVID-19 patient is a major at the Defense Security Support Command headquartered in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, the officials said, adding the route of his infection and contact tracing are under way. Currently, 96 service personnel are quarantined in accordance with health authorities' guid

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump is continually reassessing the American overseas military presence, the White House said Monday following reports that Trump plans to partially withdraw troops from Germany. The reports that Trump is slashing the US military presence in Germany from 34,500 troops to no more than 25,000 have renewed concerns about possibly similar plans for the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea. The issue with South Korea has especially been tied to ongoing negotiations betw

Korean Peninsula different from Germany, but no guarantee Trump will stick to status quo, experts say

Every June, South Korea commemorates the 1950-1953 Korean War that cemented the division of the Korean Peninsula.  This year marks the 70th anniversary of the war that began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded the South. Three foreign veterans are buried at the Seoul National Cemetery built to honor the brave soldiers and patriots who fought to defend Korea.  Two Chinese Korean veterans who fought on the front line during the Korean War are buried at the Graveyard for Foreigners

Seoul pushing to repatriate remains of Korean soldiers who perished in the Korean War from US, while continuing excavation of battle sites here

WASHINGTON -- The United States continues to urge South Korea to show "flexibility" in negotiations over sharing the cost of the American troop presence there, notwithstanding a recent agreement to have Seoul pay for Korean workers on US bases, a State Department official said Thursday. The allies have for months tried to reach a new Special Measures Agreement stipulating how much South Korea will contribute to the cost of keeping 28,500 American troops stationed on the peninsula. T

South Korea's military is set to carry out a maritime combined arms drill next week as part of its ongoing efforts to hone the skill of its forces, official sources said Thursday. The drill, which was originally planned for last month, was put off due to poor weather conditions, will involve the Army, Navy and the Air Force. The live fire training will take place on June 11 at a beach in Uljin, 330 km southeast of Seoul, on the east coast. The military said that despite the delay, the size of

The US Forces Korea (USFK) stressed Thursday that South Korea and the United States are fully committed to a transfer of the wartime operational control, heavily criticizing a local newspaper for its recent "falsely speculated" report on last year's combined exercises. On Wednesday, the evening daily Munhwa Ilbo reported that USFK Commander Gen. Robert Abrams prematurely departed the Wartime Command Post during an initial operational capability (IOC) test in August last year, as he w

Furlough to end ‘no later than mid-June’

The government is seeking to slash about 300 billion won ($244.96 million) from this year's defense budget to fund an extra spending plan aimed at coping with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The planned cut is to fund a third extra budget of 35.3 trillion won by readjusting this year's annual budget and issuing state bonds to cushion the economic fallout from COVID-19. A total of 315.8 billion won is expected to be reduced, 153.6 billi

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- The US defense department said Tuesday it has accepted South Korea's proposal to fund the labor costs for all Koreans working for the US Forces Korea (USFK) amid their stalled defense cost-sharing talks. The decision will end the furloughs that the US military has given to more than 4,000 South Korean employees since April 1, citing the lack of a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) that stipulates how much Seoul would pay for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong USFK, includin

An American soldier newly assigned to South Korea has tested positive for the coronavirus, the US Forces Korea said Monday. The latest COVID-19 patient brought the total number of infections among troops, their families and those working for the US military here to 31. The service member arrived at Incheon International Airport on Saturday on a commercial flight, and was transported to mandatory quarantine at a facility on Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, accor

A total of 25,000 masks will be delivered to Korean independence fighters who engaged in military and diplomatic campaigns against Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula, to help them combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Patriots and War Veterans said Monday. About 500 fighters and bereaved families in 15 countries will receive the supplies with a letter of gratitude from the minister. The ministry has been assisting independence fighters and war veterans to cop