South Korea and China set up a hotline between their top defense officials Thursday to reinforce their cooperation on security issues on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.Defense Minister Han Min-koo had his first telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan earlier in the day on the newly established hotline, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press release."During today's phone call, the two defense ministers shared their understanding of the need to expand de

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump repeated his unfounded criticism of South Korea on Wednesday that the wealthy Asian nation relies on the U.S. for national defense without giving anything in return."I order thousands of televisions, they're all from South Korea. So we have 28,000 people on the border separating South Korea from this maniac in North Korea. We get nothing ... We get nothing. They're making a fortune. It's an economic behemoth," Trump said during a campaign speech

A South Korean soldier was found dead on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone early Wednesday morning in a gun-related incident, the military said.Army Private Jeong was found with gunshot wounds in the central east border area of Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, around 3:00 a.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The 21-year-old had been participating in a border patrol operation inside the DMZ, according to JCS. "Now an investigation is underway to see how he was found and how the incident too

An Army staff sergeant who lost both legs in the North Korean landmine attack in early August was discharged from the hospital Tuesday after five months of treatment and rehabilitation that has enabled him to use prosthetic limbs.Twenty-one-year-old Staff Sgt. Hah Jae-hun was conducting a patrol mission on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone when landmines buried by North Korea exploded and maimed him and another soldier on Aug. 4.  The landmine attack, followed by North Korean artil

South Korea's arms procurement agency inked Monday its formal agreement with the country's sole aircraft maker, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), to undertake an ambitious project to build indigenous fighter jets.   "With the signing of the contract with KAI on Monday, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration will officially set about the fighter jet development project," DAPA said in a statement.   The project will take 10 years and six months before completing the developmental phas

Marine Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-hoon instructed his troops to maintain tight combat readiness as he inspected the defense postures of the two frontline islands facing North Korea on Monday.The commander visited Marine Corps units on the western border islands of Maldo and Udo along the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime demarcation between the two Koreas, earlier in the day, according to the Marine Corps. "Udo and Maldo are something akin to the point of a sword in the Marine Co

The military has developed the technology to diagnose Brucellosis and the Ebola virus in the early stages of infection, a major step forward in boosting biodefense capabilities, the military said Monday.A medical center under the Armed Forces Medical Command has secured the technology using real-time polymerase chain reaction to detect the two viruses which are high-risk pathogens that can be weaponized in biological warfare.The medical command patented diagnostic kits created with the detection

South Korea's state arms procurement agency said Thursday it will sign a formal contract next week on its fighter jet development project, known as KF-X.The Defense Acquisition Procurement Administration plans to ink the deal with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the country's sole aircraft maker."Negotiations over the formal contract on the KF-X program are going well. It seems to be possible to sign it around Dec. 28," the agency official said on the condition of anonymity.South Korea hopes to

The Air Force will reorganize its hitherto geographically arranged command structure into a function-based one to enhance efficiency in peacetime and wartime aerial operations, officials said Tuesday.The plan was endorsed at the Cabinet meeting, which was presided over by President Park Geun-hye.Under the plan, the Air Force Operations Command will have two major subordinate units -- the Air Combat Command and the Air Mobility & Reconnaissance Command, whose roles are divided by combat role, rat

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lee Sun-jin on Tuesday instructed frontline commanders to maintain tight combat readiness, citing the possibility of North Korea's unexpected military provocations."Around-the-clock operational readiness should be maintained so that we can automatically and powerfully react if the North Korean military launches sudden provocations," he was quoted as saying by the JCS during his visits to the First Army Command."If the enemy launches another provocation, they should

South Korea said Monday it was looking into the pilot-related system of its T-50 trainer aircraft following the crash of a jet in Indonesia over the weekend.Two pilots were killed in a crash on Sunday of the plane South Korea exported to Indonesia, during an air show celebrating the 70th anniversary of Indonesia's flight school in Yogyakarta, a tourist city on the main island of Java. While the Indonesian defense ministry is investigating the cause of the crash, South Korea is conducting its own

South Korea will push to expand civilian supervision of the defense procurement industry, the Defense Ministry said Monday, in a major bid to reform the corruption-prone sector.Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee is to stand trial on corruption charges in connection with the military's acquisition of AW159 Wildcat helicopters.Choi is among current and retired military officials indicted by a special investigative team on graft cases involving arms dealings. The task force was lau

South Korea and the United States held high-level talks on global disarmament and nonproliferation issues in Washington on Thursday, officials said.The two allies have held such talks annually since 2013 to strengthen cooperation on global issues.Thursday's meeting was led by Shin Dong-ik, South Korea's deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs, and Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. under secretary of state for arms control and international security.Key topics included the North Korean