South Korea replaced the chiefs of staff for its Army, Air Force and Marine Corps in a regular reshuffle on Monday, as the military seeks to maintain robust readiness and to support the peace efforts amid ongoing talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.Lt. Gen. Suh Wook, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was tapped as the new Army chief of staff to replace Gen. Kim Yong-woo, who has led the Army since August 2017, the Defense Ministry said. Suh, a graduate of K

South Korea's Army has recently established a new forensic investigation system to counter the illicit use of commercial drones for infiltrating and filming military installations, officials said Monday.The armed service's Central Investigation Group introduced the system for the detailed analysis of crimes and accidents involving drones. It has also started to use military drones to investigate accidents on steep cliffs and other dangerous locations. (Yonhap)The forensic system is designed to a

South Korea's National Assembly on Friday ratified the country's accord with the United States that calls for an 8.2 percent hike in its share of the cost of stationing American troops here.At a plenary session, lawmakers passed a related motion in a 139-33 vote, with 22 abstaining.Under the one-year contract signed in March, Seoul will pay 1.04 trillion won ($915 million) in 2019 for the operation of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea, up from 960 billion won the previous year. The National As

North Korea’s move to restore a satellite launching site appears to be aimed at using it as leverage in nuclear negotiations, defense authorities said.Seoul’s Defense Intelligence Agency and the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command said that North Korea was working on rebuilding the Tongchang-ri site even before the second summit between Washington and Pyongyang on Feb. 28, according to Rep. Lee Hye-hoon of the Bareunmirae Party, who leads the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee.  (Yonh

South Korea will launch an independent excavation of Korean War remains in the Demilitarized Zone on Monday, with Pyongyang unresponsive to its call to work together as agreed, Seoul's defense ministry said.Under last year's bilateral military accord aimed at reducing tensions and building trust, Seoul and Pyongyang had planned to carry out the joint project on Arrowhead Ridge, a notorious battle site during the 1950-53 conflict, from April through October. (Yonhap)But the North has yet to acced

The South Korean Air Force took over two F-35A fighter jets from the United States at a key base Friday, acquiring fighter jets with stealth capabilities for the first time. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration here said the two fighters took off from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on Wednesday and arrived at the air base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, at 2:35 p.m. F-35A (DAPA)After the fighter jets are completely combat deployed in April or May, South Korea would join the li

South Korea and the United States have tentatively agreed to push for the joint use of a key US-controlled wartime command bunker complex on the peninsula in a move likely to incur a new financial burden on Seoul, informed sources here said Wednesday.The allies have been discussing how to manage CP Tango, or Command Post Theater Air Naval Ground Operations, in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, during their talks on the Status of Forces Agreement governing the legal status of some 28,500 American tr

Propspects that two Koreas will hold military talks this month are fading, as the North appears to have pulled back on all inter-Korean cooperation plans following the breakdown of its second summit with the United States last month. The Ministry of National Defense here said Sunday it recently proposed to hold military talks with the North via a communications line, but it had not received confirmation. Seoul has been pushing to hold military talks before the end of this month, as the implement

The South Korean government held an annual ceremony Friday to commemorate more than 50 victims of North Korea's naval and artillery attacks in 2002 and 2010.Addressing the West Sea Defense Day event at the national cemetery in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon underlined a budding peace mood on the peninsula driven by inter-Korean summits last year. The West Sea is South Korea's name for the Yellow Sea. (Yonhap)He said the waters near the Yellow Sea border, where

An Air Force investigation team said Thursday that this week's unintentional launch, and mid-air explosion, of an anti-aircraft guided missile was caused by a mistake during a routine maintenance check.The Cheongung medium-range surface-to-air missile exploded in midair near an Air Force base in Chuncheon, 85 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Monday after being unintentionally fired off. No one was injured in the blast. (Yonhap)The Air Force said that two mechanics mistakenly left an operational

A surface-to-air missile was accidentally launched from an air base in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Monday and exploded in the air, South Korea’s Air Force said.The medium-range Cheongung M-SAM, also known as the Cheolmae-2, was “abnormally” launched at 10:38 a.m. during maintenance work and automatically exploded in the air, the Air Force said in a statement.  (Yonhap)According to the statement, for safety reasons the missile was designed to self-destruct in abnormal situations. No damage or ca

The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States will hold talks in Washington early next month over the security situation on the peninsula and joint peace efforts, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday.The talks between, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, are likely to touch on such pending issues as the allies' combined military exercises later this year and the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control.  (Yonhap)"(The ministr

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Thursday that he and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo plan to meet later this month.The two would be meeting for the first time since Shanahan took office this year upon the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis."The minister of defense for South Korea ... will come see me at the end of this month," Shanahan said at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.(AP)He said the two will discuss "progress and the findin

The Cheonghae Unit of the Navy celebrated its decadelong contributions to global peace Wednesday, standing as the very first maritime unit including warships to be deployed overseas.Having set sail from Jinhae Naval Base here on March 13, 2009, the Navy contingent has conducted anti-piracy operations, several rescue operations and has escorted tens of thousands of South Korean and foreign vessels in areas around the Gulf of Aden. “The Cheonghae Unit has carried out operations to counter piracy a

South Korea and the United States will wrap up their new, weeklong combined defense exercise on Tuesday, amid worries that the apparent downsizing of their springtime drills could hurt military readiness.The allies launched the Dong Maeng command post exercise on Monday last week, replacing the Key Resolve exercise to support ongoing diplomacy to denuclearize North Korea and foster lasting peace on the divided peninsula. Dong Maeng is the Korean word for alliance. (AFP-Yonhap)The computer simula