South Korea's defense ministry said Thursday it has signed a partnership agreement with the organizers of a Seoul air show to be held later this year.The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, or Seoul ADEX, is scheduled to take place at Seoul Airport, a military compound south of the capital, from Oct. 17-22. Visitors look around weapons on display at the 2015 Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition at the Seoul Airport. (Yonhap)The biennial international event sets the

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The exercise began with a bang from explosives being fired off near a ditch. Taking it as a cue for the North Korean Army’s hypothetical invasion, South Korea’s K-9 and K-55 self-propelled guns, as well as multiple rocket launchers, fired off dozens of volleys toward mock targets. The artillery attack was immediately followed by multiple sorties of F-15K and FA-50 jet fighters, which scrambled from the east and dropped bombs on dummy targets designed as North Korea’

The US Forces Korea on Wednesday brought launchers, a radar and other key parts of its advanced missile defense system to its deployment site, in a surprise move to accelerate the process ahead of a presidential election here amid heightened tension on the peninsula. Some 20 trailers carrying key components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system arrived at the site at dawn in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Although covered by plastic boxes and wrapping, they were believed to incl

US troops in South Korea began installing the equipment for an advanced missile defense system at a site in a southeastern region of the country, facing fierce protests from local residents.The overnight, unannounced operation came just six days after US Forces Korea secured the land in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, from the South Korean government. A joint environmental survey required under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement is not done yet, according to officials.(Yonhap)The allie

South Korea said Tuesday it has decided to purchase two advanced early warning radars on incoming ballistic missiles as North Korea's threats have grown.The plan was approved at a regular meeting on arms procurement projects presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Agency.It plans to import the radars in the project starting within this year. The headquarters of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Agency. (Yonhap)The South Korean military

The US military in South Korea said Tuesday it has resumed the operation of its accident-prone shooting range close to the inter-Korean border.The Rodriguez training ground had been out of service since early this month after two big stray bullets from an Eighth Army helicopter-firing drill dropped at a nearby ranch in the latest-known incident. This photo taken in January 2016 shows a US army helicopter in training over the Rodriguez training ground in Pocheon, north of Seoul. (Yonhap)No one wa

The United States military staged a massive show of force against North Korea by deploying its strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, as North Korea marked a major holiday amid mounting multilateral pressure on the regime’s nuclear ambition. The nuclear-powered USS Michigan made a call at the Port of Busan in time for the 85th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean People‘s Army. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is also heading toward the East Sea to join

American troops in Seoul kicked off their full-fledged relocation Tuesday to a refurbished base south of the capital with a symbolic ceremony to commemorate Gen. Walton H. Walker, a Korean War hero.Standing in front of the 8th Army's headquarters at Yongsan garrison, the 10-foot-tall bronze statue is a token of the US fight against North Korea alongside South Korea in the 1950-53 conflict and their decades-old alliance.The US Eighth Army hosts the Gen. Walker Monument Transition Ceremony in fron

South Korea's Navy said Tuesday it will hold a joint live-fire exercise with the US in the Yellow Sea later in the day to show their close alliance against North Korea.It will involve the Navy's 4,400-ton destroyer Wanggeon and the USS Wayne E. Meyer, a Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the US Navy. A joint South Korea-US naval drill in the Yellow Sea. (Yonhap)They are scheduled to stage a combined tactical operation and live-fire drill, according to the Navy.The allies also plan t

Top American military commanders here on Tuesday emphasized the strength of the alliance with South Korea, as North Korea's military apparently staged its largest-ever live-fire drills along its east coast on the occasion of the founding anniversary of its armed forces."We just stand ready. That's the only message we have (to North Korea)," Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the commander of US Forces Korea, said. "We are committed to the ROK (South Korea)-US alliance. That's the most important thing. That

A US submarine is set to join the USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, South Korean military officials said Monday."The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan will enter the waters off the peninsula soon or later to jointly conduct drills with the USS Carl Vinson," a military official told Yonhap News Agency. USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier (Yonhap)The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive in the East Sea later in the week amid growing nuclear an

South Korea announced Monday it has developed an advanced artillery-locating radar to help counter North Korea's rocket threats more effectively.The mobile radar system, called "counter-artillery detection radar-II," will be operational starting in 2018, according to the country's arms procurement agency. A prototype of South Korea's new counter-battery radar. (Defense Acquisition Program Administration)"In recent tests it met all of the required operational capabilities of the military. It has

South Korea's defense authorities said Monday the USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier, is scheduled to hold a joint training exercise with South Korean naval ships near the peninsula."Consultations are under way (between the two sides) in connection with the exercise," Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said at a press briefing. He did not elaborate.The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (US Navy)He did not elaborate amid speculation that the drills will be

US Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that his country's aircraft carrier could arrive in the East Sea within days amid high tensions with North Korea.Pence, who is visiting Australia, said in a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson is expected to be in waters east of the Korean peninsula no later than this month, according to Australian media. Earlier, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported

South Korea has participated in a multilateral naval exercise involving US, Japanese and British forces to crack down on Somali pirates around the Gulf of Aden, the military here said Friday.South Korea sent the 4,400-ton destroyer Choe Yeong to the Thursday drills, which also involved the 17,000-ton US dock landing ship USS Carter Hall, Japan's 5,000-ton destroyer Teruzuki and the 4,200-ton British frigate Monmouth, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Vessels of South Korea, the US, Japan a