JEJU ISLAND -- A Chinese expert warned Thursday that the ongoing deployment of a US missile defense system to South Korea will likely spark a "vicious cycle" that could lead to a regional arms race. Jiang Yuechun, head of China Institute of International Studies, still expressed hope that there are still windows of opportunity for the two neighbors to find middle ground and restore strained relations. Jiang was visiting the southern resort island of Jeju to attend a forum jointly organized by So

South Korea's new Air Force chief on Wednesday called for firm readiness to defend against any attacks by North Korea amid heightened tension sparked by its nuclear and missile threats.Gen. Lee Wang-keun, the Air Force chief of staff, made the remark during his visit to the Air Force Operation Command at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul. He took office last Friday."We need to maintain the firm airborne monitoring system to counter North Korea's strategic and tactical provocations," Lee was quoted a

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon reacted negatively Wednesday to calls for South Korea to possess nuclear weapons, saying the move would undermine Seoul's calls for North Korea to denuclearize, trigger a nuclear arms race and put the country under international sanctions.Calls for nuclear armament have gained traction as Pyongyang stepped up its nuclear and missile programs, with two nuclear tests last year, as well as a series of missile launches, including those capable of reaching the continental U

The United States and South Korea are "moving forward" on the deployment of a US missile defense system in the Asian ally as tensions soar over North Korea's missile programs, the Pentagon said Monday.Last week, the South Korean government determined that noise and radiation levels were negligible near the site of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in Seongju, southeastern South Korea."They're moving forward," Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters. "In early

A top US military commander on Monday said that though military action remains an option for the president, Washington’s top priority is on diplomatic and economic means as a peaceful solution to the standoff with North Korea. Marine Corps. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the country is capable of defending the peninsula, Guam and the continental US, despite Pyongyang’s series of threats to launch an “enveloping fire” around the western Pacific island. Wh

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff this week to discuss the bilateral defense alliance, and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the presidential office said Sunday. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford is set to arrive in Seoul on Sunday amid growing tensions following the North's intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month and an escalating war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.  US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford

The South Korean government on Saturday began a formal environmental survey on the advanced US missile defense system deployed in a southern town amid a fierce protest by local residents and activists, officials said.The defense and environment ministries were to conduct their joint study of electromagnetic radiation and noise from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Seongju, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to them.Two rocket launchers and a powerful X-band radar

Top security advisers of South Korea and the United States agreed Friday to discuss in advance any steps they could take to contain provocative North Korea, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, apparently suggesting the US will not pre-emptively strike the communist North without informing Seoul beforehand.The agreement came at a telephone conversation between Chung Eui-yong, the head of South Korea's Presidential National Security Office, and his US counterpart H.R. McMaster.The two

The South Korean government on Thursday postponed its plan to conduct a comprehensive environmental survey of a US anti-missile system deployed in Seongju, due to strong resistance from local residents and adverse weather conditions. The ministries of defense and environment had planned to measure the level of electromagnetic radiation and noise from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Two THAAD launchers and a radar are currently operational at

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will visit South Korea next week as part of his Northeast Asia tour, a defense source here said Thursday.He is scheduled to arrive on Sunday from Japan, the first leg of his upcoming tour, according to the source who requested anonymity as the Pentagon has yet to announce the schedule. Joseph Dunford (EPA-Yonhap)On Monday, Dunford is expected to pay a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in and meet with top defense officia

Despite heightened military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the US Navy has no plan yet to send another aircraft carrier here, informed sources said Thursday.They were responding to local news reports that the United States seems to be pushing for rare dual-carrier operations near Korea this month against the North's repeated intercontinental ballistic missile launches and war threats.The forward-deployed flattop, Ronald Reagan, has just returned to its home port in Yokosuka, Japan, from a thr

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for a complete and thorough overhaul of the country's armed services Wednesday, highlighting an "urgent" need to enhance the country's defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies."I believe we might need a complete defense reform at the level of a rebirth instead of making some improvements or modifications," the president said while meeting with six new top commanders of the three armed services in a promotion ce

Two US B-1B strategic bombers, newly deployed to Guam, trained in the sky over Korea earlier this week in a show of force and the ironclad alliance against North Korea's threats, the Air Force announced Wednesday.The sortie, made public a day later, was followed by the North Korean military's threat of ballistic missile attacks aimed at blockading the Pacific island.The B-1B Lancers of the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron first flew to Japan and then came to Korea in a 10-hour mission from the A

 Chief of the Air Force Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo was tapped as South Korea’s new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday, in the first reshuffle of top military leadership since President Moon Jae-in took office in May. During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Moon approved the nomination of Jeong. If Jeong receives a parliamentary nod, the 56-year-old general will replace the current JCS chief, Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin, and become the second Air Force officer to take the highest active-duty post. H

WASHINGTON -- The United States is actively considering allowing South Korea to increase the capacity of its ballistic missiles in the face of North Korea's growing military threats, the Pentagon said Monday.The remark by Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis comes a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in requested a revision to the allies' missile guidelines in a phone call with his US counterpart, Donald Trump."Yes, we are working on it," the spokesman told reporters when asked if the