A military aircraft believed to be from Russia violated South Korea's air defense identification zone over the East Sea on Tuesday, prompting the Air Force to scramble fighter jets to turn it back, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said.The plane entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone earlier in the day without prior notice, the officer said, adding that F-15K fighter jets were scrambled to the area to force the plane to retreat.Other details, including the type of the plane, its fligh

China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe held bilateral meetings with the vice defense ministers from the two Koreas and called for boosting cooperation with the respective countries, China's Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.Wei Fenghe met with Seoul's Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min on Sunday in Beijing on the sidelines of the 9th Beijing Xiangshan Forum that kicked off in the day for a three-day run until Tuesday, according to the news report.     During the meeting, Wei Fe

The locations of about 40 percent of South Korea’s military installations, including some crucial fighter wings, are openly revealed on Google Maps, a lawmaker said Sunday.According to data that Rep. Park Kwang-on of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea received from the Ministry of National Defense, about 40 percent of all military installations here are exposed as satellite images on Google Maps. The exact number of installations has not been revealed because it is a military secret. The

South Korea and China will hold high-level defense talks this week, resuming an annual dialogue that has been suspended since its last session in 2014 due to tensions over Seoul's decision to host an advanced US missile defense system.Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min plans to make a three-day trip to Beijing through Tuesday. He's scheduled to hold the fifth South Korea-China vice ministerial strategic defense dialogue Monday with Lt. Gen. Shao Yuanming, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Departme

South Korea and the United States plan to hold a new round of negotiations on sharing the cost of the upkeep for the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea in Hawaii next week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.Seoul's top negotiator, Jeong Eun-bo, and his US counterpart, James Dehart, will meet in Honolulu on Wednesday and Thursday. The last round of talks took place in Seoul last month. "Based on the stance that our government will shoulder the fair share of defense costs at a reasonable l

South Korea's National Security Council on Friday reviewed issues related to defense cost-sharing talks with the United States, Cheong Wa Dae said.Seoul and Washington are expected to hold another round of Special Measures Agreement negotiations in Hawaii next week.It would be the first bargaining session since the Moon Jae-in administration appointed Jeong Eun-bo, a veteran finance official, as its new top negotiator. The US is calling for a sharp increase in Seoul's contribution to the presenc

The United States does not have any “secret plan” to make the United Nations Command an operational command, and media reports regarding this are “fake news,” Gen. Robert Abrams, the UNC commander said Thursday.As South Korea is gearing up to retrieve its wartime operational control from the US, concerns have been raised here that Washington would try to keep its authority over the military activities in the region by strengthening the US-led UNC. “There is no

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and US Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Charles Brown agreed Wednesday to boost cooperation between the two countries' air forces for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the defense ministry said Wednesday.The meeting took place in Seoul as Brown was in South Korea to attend the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition underway at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, south of Seoul, from Tuesday to Sunday."Minister Jeong and Commander Brown s

South Korea and the United States carried out more combined marine exercises in 2019 than in previous years, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.The allies conducted 24 rounds of the Korea Marine Exercise Program this year, up from 11 in 2018 and 17 in 2017, the service said in a report presented to the National Assembly for an audit. Next year, the two sides are planning to hold 22 rounds of the KMEP drills, it added. The exercise is designed to bolster defense of South Korea's northwestern border is

South Korea has told members of the United Nations Command that its approval must be granted for any expansion plans, a local media outlet reported Monday.According to the Kyunghyang Sinmun, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo sent a letter to the embassies of 16 sending states here in July stating that the US-led UNC would have to obtain approval from South Korea to proceed with its plans to “revitalize” the organization. In the letter, Jeong is said to have stated that the UNC would

Korean envoy to East Timor urges assistance in achieving country’s economic independence

The Navy said Thursday it has been running a task force on the potential construction of nuclear-powered submarines as part of efforts to bolster its nuclear deterrent and boost defense capabilities."With longer-term perspectives to have nuclear-powered submarines, we have been running a task force of our own," the Navy said in a report presented to lawmakers for a parliamentary audit."As the matter will be decided in accordance with national policy, the Navy will work closely wit

The United States flew E-8C surveillance aircraft over areas near the Korean Peninsula, an aviation tracker said Thursday, on an apparent mission to collect intelligence regarding North Korea.Two E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft arrived at Kadena Air Base in Japan's Okinawa on Sunday "to resume missions over the Korean Peninsula," Aircraft Spots said in a Twitter post. The aircraft flew over Japan on Wednesday and took off from the base again later in the day

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki on Tuesday vowed stern responses to any violations by Japan of South Korea's airspace over the easternmost islets of Dokdo."Should Japanese warplanes violate our airspace over Dokdo, we will take stern countermeasures as far as related law allows and in accordance with our manuals," Park said in an answer to lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit. Any violation by Japan of the airspace over Dokdo would be considered intentional

The military chiefs of South Korea and the United States plan to hold their annual talks in Seoul next month to discuss regional security situations and a wide range of alliance issues, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.JCS Chairman Gen. Park Han-ki and his US counterpart Gen. Mark Milley are scheduled to hold the 44th Military Committee Meeting (MCM) in Seoul on Nov. 14, the JCS said in a report for a parliamentary audit.The MCM is held every year before the defense ministers of the tw