The South Korean presidential office on Sunday said North Korea’s claims of having carried out a test of an underwater nuclear weapons system were probably overstated. In a primary analysis on North Korea’s announcement on Friday, an official with the presidential office in Seoul said that the purported test was “likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.” The development of an underwater nuclear-based weapons system is one of the key tasks outlined in North Korea’s f

South Korea ranked fifth in the world in terms of military strength, while North Korea's standing was at 36th, an annual military power index showed Friday. South Korea had a firepower score of 0.1416 to stand at fifth out of 145 countries, according to Global Firepower 2024. Its standing rose by one notch from a year earlier. The index is calculated based on more than 60 factors, with categories ranging from military might and financial standing to logistical capability and geography. The

A senior South Korean general has highlighted the need for international response and cooperation against North Korea's evolving military threats at a major gathering of top North Atlantic Treaty Organization military officials, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday. Lt. Gen. Hwang You-sung, vice chairman of the JCS, made the call during a session of the defense chiefs of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels on Thursday after being invited to the gathering along with delegations from thr

The defense ministry's investigation unit has begun a probe into student activists who attempted to enter the presidential office this month over their possible violation of military law, officials said Thursday. The ministry's Criminal Investigative Command has booked some 10 members of the Korean University Progressive Union on charges of injuring sentry guards and trespassing at a guard post during their attempt to enter the presidential office in central Seoul on Jan. 6. The presid

The anti-corruption investigation office has raided the office of Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Kye-hwan over an alleged influence-peddling case related to the death of a young Marine last year, multiple sources said Thursday. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials searched Kim's office at the Marine Corps headquarters in Hwaseong, some 40 kilometers south of Seoul, Wednesday to seize documents and files related to the case, according to the sources familiar w

Over 8,000 permanent residents have fulfilled South Korea’s military service over the past two decades under a voluntary enrollment system, the Military Manpower Administration said. The manpower agency adopted the voluntary enrollment system in 2004 to allow overseas residents whose mandatory military service was exempted or postponed due to their permanent residence status. All able-bodied Korean men are obliged to serve in the military for at least 18 months. The number of cumulative ap

South Korea, the United States and Japan have jointly conducted naval drills in waters south of the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's recent launch of a hypersonic missile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. The joint exercise took place in southeastern waters off Jeju Island involving nine warships of the three nations, including the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, from Monday to Wednesday. The South Korean Navy's Aegis combat system-equipped destroy

North Korea appears to have made "some progress" in its pursuit to develop a hypersonic missile, Seoul's defense chief said Tuesday, after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested a solid-fuel one earlier this week. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the remark in a radio interview with broadcaster KBS after the North launched an intermediate-range missile into the East Sea on Sunday in its first ballistic missile test this year. Shin said the latest launch involved a conical

South Korea will join a US-led multinational anti-submarine exercise in waters off Guam on Tuesday, the Navy said, in an effort to hone capabilities against underwater threats. The Navy will deploy some 40 personnel and a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft for the annual Sea Dragon exercise that is set to begin later in the day through Jan. 25, which will also involve India, Australia and Japan. The exercise will train troops aboard maritime patrol aircraft to identify and track submarines with detect

South Korea is considering various measures to secure safe passage for cargo ships in the Red Sea amid rising tensions on the major shipping route, the defense ministry said Monday. Tensions in the Red Sea have escalated as the United States and Britain conducted strikes on military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen last week following more than two dozen attacks by the rebels since mid-November. "The defense ministry is making all efforts to ensure Korean vessels' safe shipp

Pyongyang’s foreign minister to visit Russia on Monday, state media says

South Korea's defense chief on Friday called for maintaining operational capabilities to eliminate the North Korean leadership in a contingency in order to deter its nuclear threats, his ministry said. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the remark as he visited the Agency for Defense Development in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he has no intention of avoiding war with the South. "In order to deter North Korea's nuclear thre

South Korea's top military officer has called for "seamless" surveillance as he visited units on the western coast, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday, in the wake of North Korea's recent artillery firing. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo inspected a coastal guard unit and a radar base, both located in Taean County, 109 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Thursday. The latest inspection visit came after the North fired hundreds of artillery shells near the western sea border

South Korea is set to begin production of the KF-21 fighter jet this year as planned, the state arms procurement agency said Wednesday, in what would be a major milestone in the country's pursuit of an advanced homegrown fighter. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration seeks to sign a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the jet's manufacturer, within the first half of the year to pave the way for the KF-21's large-scale production, according to a DAPA official. I

The top military officials of South Korea and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held phone talks Tuesday ahead of a major NATO meeting next week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, amid joint efforts to deepen cooperation. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo spoke by phone with Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of NATO's military committee, on the two-day NATO Military Chiefs of Defense meeting in Brussels starting next Wednesday to be attended by South Korean officials, according to the JCS. South Korea