The Senate-proposed US defense budget bill for next year calls for further strengthening the alliance with South Korea, including through the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, congressional records showed Tuesday.The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, which was introduced by Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Monday, has a section devoted to the "importance of alliance" between the US and the South. (Yonhap)In the section, th

South Korea's Navy took over a new 1,800-ton submarine Monday aimed at beefing up its underwater warfare capability against North Korea, a state arms procurement agency said.The delivery ceremony of the Yu Gwan-sun submarine was held at the shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on Geoje Island near the country's southeastern port city of Busan, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.The submarine, named after the Korean independence fighter Yu Gwan-sun (19

In yet another show of force against North Korea, South Korea's Navy and Air Force conducted joint live-fire drills in the East Sea on Thursday, officials said.The exercise involved the 3,200-ton Yang Manchun destroyer, the 2,500-ton Chungbuk frigate, 13 other warships, the P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and Lynx multi-role planes, as well as FA-5, F-4E and KF-16 tactical fighter jets. (Yonhap)They launched various types of guided missiles, including the Harpoon, Haeseong-I and AGM-65

South Korea and the United States conducted a massive joint missile exercise here Wednesday in a show of force after North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test a day earlier. The allies fired a barrage of missiles in the East Sea, including the US Army Tactical Missile System and South Korea’s Hyunmoo-2A, a ballistic missile with a range of 300 kilometers, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  South Korean and US troops hold a joint missile drill along the east coast of the Korean

South Korea and the United States staged a massive combined ballistic missile exercise Wednesday, sending a warning message to North Korea, the allies' militaries said, a day after the communist country claimed a successful long-range missile test.They fired a barrage of missiles, including the South's Hyunmoo-2A and the US Eighth Army's ATACMS, into the East Sea, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.The Hyunmoo-2A is a ballistic missile with a range of 300 kilometers, and the ATACMS, or the A

In peacetime, South Korea is in charge of its military forces. But when a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, the US is to take control of both South Korean military forces and the Americans stationed here.During his campaign, President Moon Jae-in had pledged to speed up the transfer of the wartime operation control, or OPCON, delayed by his predecessor. He has just got a major boost for the plan: US President Donald Trump’s consent. During their summit last week, Moon and Trump agreed to w

(Yonhap)Six human skeletons were found at a construction site for a parking lot in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, Thursday. Five skeletons were unearthed 1.6 meters beneath a gingko tree aged around 50 years old, while another was found a meter away from the tree.Sokcho Police said the remains might belong to those who died during the Korean War, as the skeletons appear to have been buried some 50 to 60 years ago.  (Yonhap)Characteristics of the skeletons also suggested that some of the deceased were

South Korea's Army has resumed the operation of more than 60 Surion multiple-purpose choppers after grounding them for nearly three weeks for new cracks found on the airframe, a state arms procurement agency said Thursday.The Army's central joint technology committee made the decision earlier this week to permit the continued service of the indigenous rotorcraft in accordance with its analysis of the cause and flight stability, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. A file

South Korea's ruling party leader will attend a memorial for late former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl this week, the foreign ministry said Thursday.Kohl, who played a key role in German unification in 1990, died on June 16 at the age of 87. He served as chancellor for West Germany and the first chancellor of unified Germany from 1982-1998. Democratic Party leader Choo Mi-ae (Yonhap)Democratic Party leader Choo Mi-ae will join the European Ceremony of Honor to be held at the European Parliament

AIR FORCE ONE -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday said reducing his country's joint military exercises with the United States was not an option for now, though it may be considered following what he called irreversible and verifiable steps by North Korea to denuclearize."First of all, the official position we have now is that North Korea's nuclear freeze and reduction of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States cannot be linked," Moon said."That has been

South Korea's Navy announced a plan Wednesday to replace its naval patrol ships operating near the tense inter-Korean sea border with upgraded ones.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the country's arms procurement agency, said it has signed a 256-billion-won ($223 million) agreement with Hanjin Heavy Industries, a local shipyard, for four 200-ton high-speed patrol boats. An image of a Gumdoksuri-class high-speed patrol boat (Defense Acquisition Program Administration)The Gumdoksuri

South Korea said Wednesday it has completed the development of an upgraded 105 mm howitzer featuring increased agility and automated firing control.The self-propelled artillery system combines the existing 105 mm towed howitzer with a five-ton truck as its bed. The new self-propelled 105 mm howitzer (DAPA)The 105 mm howitzer with a range of around 11 kilometers is known for reliability, speed and accuracy.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the country's arms procurement agency, laun

South Korea's Navy said Wednesday it plans to appoint the fathers of six sailors killed in the 2002 inter-Korean naval skirmish as "honorary captains" of the six warships named after the fallen soldiers.It's a symbolic measure to honor and commemorate the sacrifice of the sailors during the incident, called the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, which occurred just south of the Northern Limit Line, in the Yellow Sea. South Korean Army soldiers pay their respects to the six sailors killed in the 2002 i

Six South Korean fighter jets are flying back home Tuesday after participating in a multinational air combat training exercise led by Pacific Air Forces, the nation's Air Force said.The KF-16s took off earlier in the day from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, where the annual RED FLAG-Alaska training was staged. South Korea`s KF-16 fighter jets fly over the Pacific with aerial refueling support from the US Air Force`s KC-135 Stratotanker on June 3, 2017, in this photo provided by South Korea`s A