South Korea's military is pushing to field some 100 additional units of the locally built K2 Black Panther tanks to strengthen frontline defense against North Korea, a military official said Thursday."The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) submitted the request citing the need for 100 or so more K2 tanks in October and the Ministry of National Defense is carrying out a verification of the demand," the military official said. K2 is the South Korean Army's main battle tank (MBT) and has been produced sin

South Korea's Air Force said Wednesday that it has completed all necessary preparations to use locally built planes for its future pilots, a move that can improve flight training and cut costs. The Air Force Academy rolled out the KT-100 basic trainer at a ceremony held in Cheongju, 137 kilometers southeast of Seoul.The Air Force said the low-wing KT-100 will take over the duty of training cadets from the Russian built T-103.The KT-100 single-prop plane is produced by the country's sole aircraft

The South Korean military opened an investigation into the indigenously developed military helicopter Surion after some of the fleet had cracked windshields and other cracking problems, the defense procurement agency said Monday."Some of the (locally operational) 40 or so Surions have shown problems on their airframes," Kim Si-cheol, spokesman at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said in a press briefing earlier in the day.Currently, the DAPA is consulting the chopper's prod

Some 10 buoys that North Korea installed last year to apparently identify the western inter-Korean sea border were washed away, a government source said Sunday, amid constant concerns that the communist state would violate the maritime boundary.There are no signs yet of the North trying to reinstall the buoys -- with a diameter of less than 1 meter each - after it put in place a monitoring device on a deserted island some 12 kilometers northeast of the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, t

The South Korean Army said Thursday that overweight officers will be subject to disadvantages in promotions starting this year, as part of efforts to stress physical fitness and increase combat power.Under the new system, all Army officers whose body mass index exceeds 30 will receive negative marks and the results will be reflected in screenings for promotions.BMI is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters. A BMI greater than 30 is regarded

South Korea and Australia agreed Wednesday to enhance bilateral collaboration in military supplies and armament maintenance during talks in Canberra, the defense ministry here said.The agreement was reached during annual bilateral talks in the Australian capital earlier in the day, according to the Ministry of National Defense.The two sides also concurred on the need to establish a joint working group to share results of their innovation measures on the defense supply sector and to expand cooper

South Korea and the United States plan to hold an annual high-level defense meeting in Washington next week to build up their deterrence plan against North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, the Ministry of National Defense here said Wednesday.The two-day Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue will kick off on Monday and bring together South Korea's Defense Deputy Minister for policy Yoo Jeh-seung and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear, along with Abraham Denmark, deputy a

South Korea and the United States discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in disaster control and anti-terrorism efforts amid a spike in worldwide safety concerns, the government said Wednesday.Seoul said Minister of Public Safety and Security Park In-yong met Reginald Brothers, undersecretary for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and discussed follow-up measures to an agreement reached in March.The two sides concurred during a weeklong disaster and security ma

South Korea's future military buildup will focus on countering North Korea's asymmetric military power, a shift from the current conventional warfare-focused armament, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Wednesday.The military "will have a paradigm shift in a way that military armament against North Korean asymmetric threats such as nuclear weapons and missiles is secured foremost," Han said in a lecture given at a forum held by cable news broadcasting station Channel A.South Korea has so far focu

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday urged the military to beef up readiness against possible North Korean provocations amid speculation that the regime could carry out another nuclear test later this week."The military should thoroughly be ready for any kind of North Korean provocation to ensure the safety of the people," Hwang said during a Cabinet meeting in Seoul.The remarks come as the North may opt to detonate its fifth nuclear weapon or launch a missile ahead of the country's rare ruli

South Korea and the United States have teamed up to develop advanced technology using artificial intelligence to counter cyber threats, a ministry said Monday.The allies reached the deal when Reginald Brothers, under secretary for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, visited here, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.The two sides "intend to explore areas of mutual value and benefit, which may lead to joint activities aimed at enhancing ope

South Korea and the United States are set to end their two monthlong joint military exercises this week, but tensions are expected to go up further as North Korea is seen as preparing for another nuclear test, officials said Friday."The Foal Eagle exercise will officially wrap up its schedule tomorrow although its outdoor training programs are all to end today," a military official said. The last day of the exercise on Saturday will be assigned to breaking up camps and withdrawing assembled mili