Despite the possible suspension of the upcoming joint air defense exercise with the United States, South Korea will carry out its own air drill as scheduled in December, an official of the defense ministry here said Sunday.The annual Seoul-Washington air exercise, Vigilant Ace, which had been scheduled for December, is highly likely to be suspended this year to lend support for ongoing peace efforts involving North Korea, according to officials of the allies. The large-scale air exercise has bee

The United States and South Korea are scrapping another major military exercise this year, a Pentagon official said Friday, citing a push for diplomatic progress with North Korea. The top Pentagon spokeswoman, Dana W. White, said Washington and Seoul are suspending an air exercise known as Vigilant Ace "to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue.'' It was the latest move aimed at trying to nudge North Korea, which despises such US-South Korean exercises, into negotiating about

The defense chiefs of South Korea and China held talks on Friday during which they agreed to set up more hotline between their air forces and promote military exchanges. South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, also agreed to jointly work toward peace and stability on the Northeast Asia, Seoul's defense ministry said in a statement.  South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe (Yonhap)The talks between Jeon

South Korea and the United States failed Friday to reconcile their differences over sharing the cost of stationing American troops on the peninsula during their eighth round of talks in Seoul, the foreign ministry here said.    The allies wrapped up their four-day negotiation session without bridging the gaps on a set of sticking points such as the exact cost Seoul is set to shoulder for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in the South. From right: South Korea`s Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-do

　Controversy has erupted over the United States military’s decision to impose extra scrutiny on South Koreans visiting US bases in Japan, prompting speculation as to the reasoning behind it. 　According to US military newspaper Stars and Stripes, US Forces Japan has recently added South Korea to a list of nations whose citizens must undergo additional screening before they can be escorted onto installations.　USFJ said the measure is a part of the routine process for reviewing its policies for thi

South Korea's Army unveiled an ambitious plan Thursday to equip all of its squads nationwide with advanced armored vehicles and other transportation by 2030.The Mount Paektu Tiger project, worth 1.25 trillion won ($1.1 billion), aims to enable all ground troops to move by wheeled-armored carriers, such as the K200 armed vehicle and other small tactical vehicles, rather than on foot. (Yonhap)All vehicles will be installed with improved bullet-proof and remote controlled weapon station systems.The

South Korea's military said Tuesday it remains firmly committed to the defense of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border with North Korea.The two Koreas have long disputed the demarcation of their Yellow Sea border, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce.The South has maintained the NLL, while the North has drawn its own "security line" further south, leading to some deadly naval skirmishes.In April, the leaders of the two sides agreed to turn the tense area into a

Challenges remain for future talks as meeting falls short of producing specific agreement

  South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense on Monday denied allegations that the presidential office had instructed the military to cancel a scheduled ballistic missile test out of concern that it would hamper inter-Korean detente. 　The ministry’s spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told reporters that while the military had changed the schedule for the flight test for a long-range, surface-to-air missile, the decision was to do with “technical issues” rather than political reasons.　“As we proceed with

South Korea's defense ministry said Monday it has decided to put off the testing of a new surface-to-air interceptor missile due to technical, not political, reasons.The military has sought to develop the L-SAM missile system aimed at shooting down ballistic missiles from North Korea. (Yonhap)If deployed, it's expected to serve as a key element of the Korean Air and Missile Defense in the making, along with the existing PAC-III system.The military authorities had planned to conduct a firing test

An international fleet review on the southern resort island of Jeju concluded its five-day campaign on Sunday, South Korea's Navy said.    Some 10,000 troops from 12 countries and naval representatives from 46 countries attended the International Fleet Review in Jeju and promoted world peace through the sea, while sharing ideas on harmony and co-existence.    Nineteen foreign vessels, including the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, will leave the South Korean port of Jeju on

South Korea is considering drawing up rules of engagement in cyberspace to effectively deal with growing threats from North Korea and other unidentified players, military authorities said Sunday. "Since 2004, discussions have been under way at the UN meetings to enact international laws related to cyber war," a source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity. "We will closely watch the relevant situations and cautiously review and push for drawing up the rules of engagement."The envisio

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that it will "flexibly" handle the issue of the deployment of US strategic arms to Korea and its plan to establish a key defense system in line with progress in North Korea's denuclearization.The remarks during a parliamentary audit spawned speculation that it could desist from requesting a US show of force with formidable assets, such as nuclear-capable bombers and aircraft carriers, and scale back its envisioned "three-axis" system.The three-axis

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday expressed "deep regret" over the dispute over the building of a naval base on South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju in a move widely seen as the first apology by a sitting president.South Korea selected Gangjeong, a small fishing town on the island's southern coast, as the site for its naval base in 2007 when Moon was chief of staff for liberal President Roh Moo-hyun. South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)The project touched off angry protests from v

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan joined South Korea's once-in-a-decade international fleet review in waters off the southern island of Jeju on Thursday.The 103,600-ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier of the US 7th Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan, was among the 15 warships from 10 foreign countries that joined the naval event designed to promote trust and cooperation among world navies. USS Ronald Reagan (US Navy - Yonhap)On Friday, it is set to dock at the island's civilian-mi