South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo assured the leader of American troops here Wednesday that he will place top priority on bolstering the time-honored alliance against North Korea's saber-rattling.Song, who took office last week, delivered the message to Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, who commands the US Forces Korea, in their introductory meeting at Song's office in Seoul, according to his ministry.The minister told Brooks that he has proposed "robust and complementary development of the ROK

The commander of the US Naval Forces Korea will receive an honorary Korean name from a pro-alliance group here in recognition of his dedicated service, South Korea's Navy said Wednesday.Rear. Adm. Brad Cooper will be formally given the new name -- Goo Tae-il -- at a joint military band concert to be held in Busan later in the day.It's to celebrate the 65th founding anniversary of the Republic of Korea Fleet Command headquartered in the southern port city and the 60th anniversary of the US Naval

 　CAMP CASEY, Dongducheon -- Despite the relocation of a major US military base from the inter-Korean border to the south of Seoul, the unit’s combat readiness will remain just as strong as before, its outgoing and incoming commanders stressed Tuesday. 　“The location of the division and various brigades ... (it) really does not matter where we are stationed,” Maj. Gen. Theodore D. Martin, who was the commander general of the 2nd Infantry Division for the past two years, said in an interview with

The 2nd Infantry Division, a forward-deployed US Army unit in South Korea, welcomed its new commanding general Tuesday.Maj. Gen. D. Scott McKean took over the command from Maj. Gen. Theodore D. Martin in a ceremony held at Camp Casey in Dongducheon close to the Demilitarized Zone.McKean will double as leader of the South Korea-US Combined Division, which includes the 2nd Infantry Division and a South Korean Army brigade. Maj. Gen. D. Scott McKean (L), the new commanding general of the US Forces

President Moon Jae-in urged his top military officials to continue enhancing their defense readiness and further defense capabilities Tuesday, calling national defense one of two most important pillars of the nation along with the economy."There are many pillars that help sustain a nation and the most important of them all are defense and economy," the president said while meeting with his top military officials, including his new Defense Minister Song Young-moo and Song's immediate predecessor

South Korea's military is mulling over partly financing major firepower projects with private funds, an official said Tuesday.South Korea is pushing for the establishment of a "three-axis" platform to help defend itself against North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats. The three elements are the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation strategy.South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pledged to complete the

South Korea's defense chief on Monday reaffirmed his push for a sweeping reform of the country's armed forces for a "new war paradigm."Inspecting the operation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Minister Song Young-moo cited grave security conditions on the peninsula."The current security situation on the Korean Peninsula is serious enough to be called 'the worst security crisis' since the (1950-53) Korean War," he told JCS service members. Defense Minister Song Young-moo visits the headquart

　South Korea’s chopper Surion has defects that make it “unreliable” for flight missions, Seoul’s audit agency said on Sunday, requesting a prosecutorial investigation into the helicopter’s local manufacturer and the nation’s arms procurement agencies.  　The Board of Audit and Inspection announced that the helicopter lacks lightening protection and anti-icing capability. It even has an engine leakage and malfunctions in its fuselage and windshield.   　The state-run audit body said Korea Aerospace

South Korea's state audit agency said Sunday that the country's transport utility helicopters have various defects including flight stability and requested that the prosecution probe  the arms procurement chief on charges of breach of trust. The Board of Audit and Inspection said that South Korea-born Surion helicopters are not airworthy as they lack lightning protection and anti-icing capability, while failing to receive proper engine certification. It even reported that the homegrown chopper,

PAJU -- South Korea's new Defense Minister, Song Young-moo, on Saturday called for strong and overwhelming military readiness when he met soldiers guarding the heavily armed Korean Demilitarized Zone. A day after taking office, Song visited the truce village of Panmunjom and met with soldiers from South Korea and US-led United Nations Command protecting the border.  New Defense Minister Song Young-moo (L) visits the Demilitarized Zone on July 15, 2017. (Yonhap)Song asked soldiers to stably manag

Defense Minister Song Young-moo took office Friday, vowing to rebuild the military and boost the country’s capabilities to better counter North Korea’s evolving threats through sweeping reform across barracks and industry. 　The 68-year-old was formally appointed by President Moon Jae-in a day earlier, following a month-long tug of war with opposition parties which had fiercely demurred at the nomination chiefly over his high-paying post-retirement stints at a law firm and defense contractor. Moo

South Korea‘s prosecutors said Friday it has launched an investigation on Korea Aerospace Industries, alleged to have swindled illicit gains by inflating costs of research and development in a project not identified to the media.Some 100 prosecutors and investigators, dispatched by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office raided the headquarters of KAI, located in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and its Seoul branch on Friday, to seize materials for evidence such as hard disks and docu

South Korea's new defense minister took office Friday, reaffirming his pledge to reform and beef up the military."In order to win the trust of the people, (the military) should go beyond a simple defense reform to create brand new armed forces," Defense Minister Song Young-moo said in his inauguration speech.After being tapped to lead the Ministry of National Defense a month earlier, President Moon Jae-in officially appointed him to the post Thursday despite the opposition's allegations of misco

　South Korea’s arms procurement agency on Thursday unveiled a prototype of an advanced radar for its homegrown fighter jet project, accelerating efforts to complete the development by 2026.　The state-run Agency for Defense Development ran detection capability tests on a simplified version of the “active electronically scanned array” radar at Hanwha Systems research institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Hanwha, a local defense firm, is the contractor for the development of the

Purchase brings total defence expenditure to Bt72.7 billion ($2.14b) since junta took power.