South Korea's military said Monday it will conduct detailed examinations into three sites in the rural county of Seongju to check if alternate locations can be found to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system. The move comes as Seongju residents strongly protested the government's decision to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system at the Seongsan artillery base which is not too far away from the county's main population center. The government announced on July 13 that it p

The South Korean National Assembly's defense committee said Friday it will hold a special gathering with the country's defense minister next week to discuss the deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-missile system as well as North Korea's on-going provocations.The move came as the discussion centering on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in the country is fueling social discord and affecting state affairs, at a time when North Korea's test-firing of a submarine-launc

President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday visited a front-line Army unit to offer her encouragement and to call for a robust readiness posture, her office Cheong Wa Dae said, amid a spike in tensions triggered by North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile launch and its menacing rhetoric.Accompanied by Defense Minister Han Min-koo and dozens of senior military and government officials, the commander-in-chief met with border troops who are participating in the ongoing annual military drills jo

The South Korean Army on Tuesday conducted a joint military drill with police, government officials and private experts to counter possible terrorist attacks by North Korea, officials said.South Korea's 2nd Operations Command said that the joint anti-terror exercise was conducted at a football stadium in Daegu, some 302 kilometers south of Seoul, as part of the broader ongoing annual military exercise between South Korea and the United States.The Army's drill, which involved some 250 personnel a

A top South Korean financial regulator on Tuesday called on the international community to intensify joint efforts to fight against North Korea's financing for its weapons of mass destruction program."The steady growth of WMDs has been threatening the whole world. We are facing an imminent nuclear threat from North Korea," Jeong Eun-bo, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said in a speech at an annual workshop of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering in Seoul."We must urgent

The South Korean parliamentary intelligence body on Tuesday said easing the public's health concerns over the deployment of a US missile defense system must take top priority, adding the government's move to choose an alternative spot cannot end protests.Earlier this week, South Korea said it will consider an alternative site for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, as residents of Seongju, a southern county designated earlier to host the system, staged protests claiming the system ha

National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday said South Korean parties must overcome differences on the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the country, adding the issue should not weigh on the unity of the political segment."Now is the moment to come up with a conclusion that overcomes ideologies and political tensions to minimize public division," Chung said. South Korean parties have been divided over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in the