South Korea and Japan did not exchange military information with each other regarding North Korea's weapons test this week under the framework of their bilateral intelligence-sharing pact, officials said Friday.On Thursday, North Korea fired two short-range rockets into the East Sea in a test of its super-large multiple rocket launcher. It was the North's first weapons test since Seoul decided last week to conditionally renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement."Japan did

Three US reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Korean Peninsula in succession for two days this week in an apparent sign of ramped-up surveillance of North Korea following its test-firing of coastal artillery. A plane believed to be an EP-3E of the US Navy, was spotted in skies above the Korean Peninsula at an altitude of 7,010 meters, Aircraft Spots, an aviation tracker, said on its Twitter account.  The aviation tracker said earlier it detected two US Air Force spy planes -- the RC-135V a

A US reconnaissance plane flew over Seoul and surrounding regions, an aviation tracker said Wednesday, on an apparent mission to collect intelligence regarding North Korea.The plane, believed to be an RC-135V, was detected in the skies above South Korea's capital city and Gyeonggi Province "on task over the Korean Peninsula," Aircraft Spots posted on Twitter.  It did not specify the exact time of the operation.The flight came amid lingering concerns that the North could conduct ad

South Korea's presidential office said Friday it will make public a decision on the fate of a military information-sharing agreement with Japan at 6 pm, six hours before it was scheduled to expire.Kim You-geun, deputy director of Cheong Wa Dae's national security office, plans to hold a press briefing, it said.The announcement follows final discussions on the issue of the General Security of Military Information Agreement.Cheong Wa Dae initially planned to make an announcement on its plan to pre

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday called on South Korea and Japan to show leadership and resolve their differences ahead of the planned termination of a military intelligence-sharing pact between the two Asian allies.The General Security of Military Information Agreement, set to expire at midnight Friday, is seen by Washington as a key platform for trilateral security cooperation against North Korea's nuclear threat and China's military rise."My message to them was, look, I unders

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States held telephone talks late Thursday and discussed a soon-to-expire military information-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, and their ongoing defense cost-sharing negotiations, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The phone talks between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came just ahead of the planned expiration of the General Security of Military Information Agreement, set for Saturday.  The allies are al

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Thursday he has not heard of any plans to withdraw some American troops from South Korea unless Seoul sharply raises its share of the cost of US troop presence, according to Reuters.Esper made the remarks during a trip to Vietnam when asked about reports by a South Korean daily, Chosun Ilbo, that the US is considering bringing a brigade home from the South should Seoul refuse to accept a fivefold increase, or around US$5 billion per year, in the upkeep of

The United States reaffirmed its commitment to maintain the current level of US troops in South Korea during last week's annual defense ministers' meeting, the defense ministry here said Thursday.  It was the ministry's response to some media reports that the US is considering bringing a brigade home from the South should Seoul refuse to accept a fivefold increase, or around $5 billion per year, in the upkeep of the US Forces Korea.  Negotiations are under way between the allies t

Exemptions from mandatory military service to be reduced due to shortage of eligible population

WASHINGTON -- US Defense Secretary Mark Esper refused to speculate when asked Tuesday whether the US would consider reducing troops in South Korea short of a deal on defense cost-sharing.Esper was asked the question during a briefing with reporters near Manila, the Philippines, after the US walked out of defense cost-sharing negotiations with South Korea in Seoul.The US is reportedly seeking an increase of Seoul's contribution to $5 billion from the current $870 million for this year to support

Differences between South Korea and the United States over how much Seoul should pay for the upkeep of the 28,500 US troops stationed here have come to the fore, with the two sides cutting short their meeting Tuesday. “There was a considerable difference between proposals of the US and the South in principle,” Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s top negotiator, said at a regular briefing. The US negotiation team, led by James DeHart of the State Department, left the negotiating table e

North Korea should cease escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula since Seoul and Washington have postponed their planned joint aerial drill, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Monday, according to the pre-distributed address to a regional defense ministers’ conference.Attending the sixth Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, Jeong also said working-level talks between the US and North Korea and the third summit between the leader

BANGKOK -- The defense ministers of South Korea and China held bilateral talks in Bangkok on Sunday and agreed to boost their defense relations for regional peace and stability, Seoul‘s defense ministry said.  During the meeting, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, exchanged their assessments of regional security situations, commending each government’s efforts for the denuclearization of and the establishment of a lasting peace on the Kore

The defense ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States met Sunday to discuss their differences regarding the intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, amid concerns that the ongoing row might weaken the trilateral security alliance.Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, held bilateral talks and met with their US counterpart in a separate trilateral meeting, both of which took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meet

South Korea and the United States decided to put off their wintertime combined air exercises to support diplomacy with North Korea, the two sides said Sunday, with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper urging Pyongyang to reciprocate the goodwill by returning to nuclear talks.Esper and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo announced the surprise decision during an impromptu joint press conference in Bangkok on the sidelines of a regional defense ministers' meeting led by the Association of So