A B-1B strategic bomber returned to its base in Guam on Sunday after a short stay in South Korea that aimed to warn North Korea against any further provocations, military officials said Monday."The B-1B Lancer returned to Andersen Air Base last night after remaining at Osan Air Base since Wednesday in a show of force against the North's latest nuclear test," a defense ministry official told Yonhap News Agency. Pyongyang conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 9 despite intern

President Park Geun-hye on Friday met with Lim Ki-tack, the South Korean chief of a UN maritime body, to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation on an array of issues, including North Korea's provocations that destabilize maritime security.During her meeting with Lim, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, Park was expected to highlight that Pyongyang's unannounced launch of missiles and its disruptions of Global Positioning System signals would seriously unde

Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans support the country's development of its own nuclear weapons, a poll showed Friday, amid the rising calls among hawkish lawmakers for Seoul to consider the aggressive option to curb Pyongyang's provocations.According to the data compiled by pollster Gallup Korea, 58 percent of the respondents agreed with South Korea's nuclear armament scenario, while 34 percent expressed an opposition. The study was conducted on 1,010 South Koreans throughout the country this w

South Korea will redesign the parts of its Surion helicopter which recently failed to pass an extreme climate performance that would allow it to be sold to more customers around the world, the military and manufacturer said Friday.In a months-long test conducted in the United States, the Surion utility helicopter failed to operate properly under a set of very challenging humid and freezing temperatures. Several parts in Surion didn't meet the international standard, an official at the Korea Aero

The United States does not discuss any preemptive strike plans in advance, the White House said Thursday in response to a question whether President Barack Obama has any airstrike plans against the North."Just in general, not specifically to North Korea, as an operational matter we're not going to discuss any preemptive military actions in advance," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a regular press briefing after a reporter asked if Obama has "any particular plans for the North Ko

Two U.S. Air Force B-1B strategic bombers this week made the closest-ever flight to North Korea to warn the communist country against any further provocations, the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) said Thursday.North Korea conducted its fifth underground nuclear test on Sept. 9, despite international condemnations and sanctions imposed after the previous nuke detonation in January. The latest provocation came on the heels of the launch of three ballistic missiles four days earlier.   One of the tw

Neither South Korea's own nuclear armament nor redeployment of US nuclear weapons in the country would enhance the country's security against North Korea, a senior White House official said Wednesday."I don't believe that North Korea will be any more deterred from taking military action against the South if we have nuclear weapons on the peninsula because North Korea, China, the rest of the world know that we have military capabilities, conventional and otherwise, that can be launched from the U

The United States on Wednesday sent two armed strategic bombers to South Korea, the US Forces Korea said, in the latest move to demonstrate Washington's security commitment to its Asian ally and warn against additional North Korean provocations.One of the two B-1B Lancer bombers landed at Osan Air Base. The other flew over the base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and returned to US Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, the USFK said.The flyby comes only a week after a pair of B-1B Lancer

The United States should consider offering to call off the planned deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea if Beijing imposes serious sanctions on North Korea, US experts said Monday.Eric Heginbotham and Richard J. Samuels of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies made the suggestion, arguing that flexibility on THAAD deployment is worth an end to the North's nuclear and missile programs."US leaders should not only point out the downsid