South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo said Tuesday the country's troops will make every effort to support the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.He stressed the role of the military for the successful hosting of a "Peace Olympics," inspecting an ad hoc military command center in PyeongChang two months ahead of the opening of the global sports event, according to his ministry.He ordered the military to maintain a firm defense posture so that the entire world can enjoy the festival witho

BRUSSELS -- South Korea's top envoy in Amsterdam has been designated as the chairman of a conference of states that are members of a treaty banning chemical weapons to be held in The Hague in October next year, the South Korean Embassy said Tuesday.South Korean Ambassador to the Netherlands Lee Yun-young will take up the chairmanship of the 23rd conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention for one year after he is officially selected to the position at the meeting.The treaty, which entered into

The head of South Korea's state arms procurement agency said Tuesday closer defense industry ties with the United States will serve as the driving force of the bilateral alliance."Defense industry technology cooperation is a cornerstone to expand the base for the South Korea-US alliance and guarantee the interoperability of their combined operation," Jeon Jei-guk, chief of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said in a keynote speech at a forum in Washington, DC, according to his orga

The South Korean government decided Tuesday to quit a lawsuit against residents on Jeju Island and activists for having obstructed the construction of a major naval base there.The government approved a related motion at the Cabinet meeting, effectively putting an end to a longtime conflict with the protesters and the local community.In March 2016, the Navy filed the suit with the Seoul Central District Court to exercise its right to indemnity against 116 individuals and five entities.It cited lo

With the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics around the corner, South Korea and the US are considering postponing their annual military drills to avoid provoking North Korea ahead of the global sports event.  　Citing diplomatic sources, the Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Monday that the South Korean and the US governments have been in talks to defer the Key Resolve combined exercise, which North Korea regularly protests likening it to a war rehearsal, until after the games.　The O

South Korea's military said Monday it's premature to talk publicly about the reported likelihood of postponing annual war games with the United States to avoid the overlap with the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.The allies usually kick off the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in late February or early March, which North Korea regards as a rehearsal for invasion and uses as a pretext for provocations.A dilemma for South Korea is that the drills will likely coincide with the PyeongChang

South Korea said Monday it has started a joint missile tracking exercise with the United States and Japan amid speculation that North Korea may soon test a submarine-launched ballistic missile.The two-day drill is taking place in waters near the peninsula and Japan, the first trilateral military operation since the North's firing of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile in late November, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Yonhap)It involves South Korea's Seoae Ryu Seong Ryong A

YOKOSUKA/OKINAWA/TOKYO -- In the morning of Nov. 29, 2018, hours after North Korea test-fired the Hwasong-15 ballistic missile toward Japan, the US naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, was calm with a tinge of uneasiness and tension in the air. It is home to the 7th Fleet, the US Navy’s largest forward-deployed armada. Led by its command ship USS Blue Ridge, an impressive collection of guided missile cruisers and destroyers were docked at the base, ready to scramble at any moment’s notic

The top US military commander in South Korea traveled to Washington, D.C. and New York last week for briefings on North Korea and the allies' defense posture, his aides said Sunday amid growing attention to the Donald Trump administration's response to the communist regime's saber-rattling.The trip of Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, who commands the US Forces Korea, came days after the North's launch of theHwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, sparking considerable media speculation. Gen. Vince

　President Moon Jae-in urged the military to secure “overwhelming” capability to fend off North Korea’s growing military threat on Friday as South Korea’s Defense Ministry warned against another strategic provocations following its latest missile launch. 　The president also called for an “early and swift” transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea, suggesting the military should secure capability to lead combined operations in the event of contingency on the Ko

President Moon Jae-in called on his top military officers Friday to build up the country's defense capabilities to overwhelm and prevent North Korea from making any reckless provocations.During a meeting with some 150 military commanders, he also directed them to prepare for an early transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops from the United States."Right now, our military faces a very serious situation where North Korea's nuclear and missile threats are fast becoming more re

President Moon Jae-in was set to hold a meeting with the country's top military commanding officers Friday.The meeting will be held over lunch at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, involving some 190 commanders from the three armed services.It will mark Moon's second meeting with top military commanders since taking office in May, and the first of its kind following a personnel reshuffle that replaced the chiefs of staff of all three armed services and other military commanders.The president

South Korea said Friday it will start developing a state-of-the-art bomb disposal robot for military use.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to hold an inaugural R&D meeting at a research center of Hanwha Land Systems, a local contractor, in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, later in the day.The state arms agency aims to complete the first stage development process to simulate the system operation and manufacture a prototype by 2019. It will then begin mass production.  An image of a b

The US flew two B-1B supersonic bombers over Korea on Thursday, the second sortie carried out here this week by the Guam-based aircraft, a defense official said.The Lancer bombers trained with more than 20 of the allies' fighter jets as part of their annual Vigilant ACE air force practice.They entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone through the sky over the waters south of Jeju Island and conducted simulated bombing drills over the Yellow Sea near North Korea and China, according to t

South Korea said Thursday it has picked Choi Hyun-soo, a female journalist, as the defense ministry's spokesperson.It's unprecedented for a female reporter to be installed in the position, a move that reflects the Moon Jae-in administration's resolve for the reform and civilian control of the military, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Choi Hyun-soo, new spokesperson for South Korea`s defense ministry in a photo provided by the ministry (Yonhap)Choi, a veteran journalist at the Kukm