The commanding general of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, was named as assistant chief of staff of U.S. Forces Korea, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.  The appointment of Maj. Gen. Michael Bills to the new job came as some 4,500 troops from the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team are preparing to deploy to South Korea early next year as part of a regular rotation of forces.  The troops will replace the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team that was deployed in Ju

South Korea and the United States held talks in Washington to discuss ways to expand maritime cooperation between the two close trading partners, the government said Tuesday.  The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said the working level talks touched on the need to expand information on maritime policies, allowing U.S. car carriers greater access to South Korean cargo, and guidelines issued by U.S. port state control authorities.  The PSC is tasked with checking foreign ships to make certain they

South Korea launched on Tuesday its second next-generation landing vessel with upgraded mobility that will be deployed for operations in 2017, the Navy said.  The second edition LST-II, the Cheonjabong, is 4,900 tons and capable of sailing up to 23 knots at full speed, with the service of 120 crew members, according to the Navy.   The vessel, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, is capable of delivering about 300 fully armed landing forces and carrying landing boats, tanks and two helicopters, the

A conflict on the Korean Peninsula will no longer be limited to the peninsula as North Korea has developed ballistic missile, cyber and other capabilities, the top American military official said Monday.  Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford made the remark during a defense conference, stressing that the U.S. should be prepared to fight "trans-regional, multi-domain and multi-functional" conflicts.  "If you would have thought about the Korean Peninsula some years ago, you would hav

The United States troops stationed in South Korea will move its current headquarters in central Seoul to the southern city of Pyeongtaek by the end of 2017, one year later than initially planned, the commander of the Eighth U.S. Army and a South Korean official said.  The U.S. Forces Korea and South Korea are currently in the process of relocating U.S. troops based in Seoul and north of Seoul to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, located 70 kilometers southeast of the capital.  Maj

Construction of fuel storage bunkers at North Korea's rocket launch site appear to be near completion as a three-year project to expand the site draws to an end, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday.Commercial satellite imagery taken of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the North's northwest from October through late November indicates that construction of new propellant (fuel/oxidizer) bunkers continues and is nearing completion, 38 North said in a report."With the upgrade program ne

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that South Korea and its fighter jet development project partner firm, Lockheed Martin, have the "necessary approvals" to proceed with the project, confirming its approval of Lockheed Martin's plan to transfer key technologies to Seoul.The department also pledged to continue to support the KF-X project "to the maximum extent possible.""At this point, the United States is confident Lockheed Martin and the Republic of Korea currently have the necessary appr

South Korea is a possible candidate for the deployment of a THAAD missile defense battery aimed at guarding against regional threats, primarily from North Korea, a top U.S. military commander was quoted Wednesday as saying.U.S. Army's Pacific Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks made the remark during a meeting with defense reporters Tuesday, saying the Army is pushing to have the THAAD unit deployed on the Pacific island of Guam remain there on a permanent basis, instead of the current rotational depl

The United States has agreed within a "broad framework" to transfer a set of technologies needed for South Korea's indigenous fighter jet program, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.  A South Korean government delegation visited Washington last week for talks with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin amid reports that the U.S. is reluctant to transfer three of the 21 technologies under discussion.  South Korea agreed with Lockheed Martin last year to receive 25 combat jet technologies

The South Korean military's new space center effectively monitored a Russian satellite that fell back to Earth earlier this week, the Air Force said Wednesday.  The Space Operations Center was established in July as part of South Korea's efforts to beef up space war capabilities.  Confronted with North Korea's 1.1-million troops across the border, the South's 600,000-strong troops have traditionally focused on bolstering combat readiness on the peninsula.  The Air Force, however, has launched an

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin on Tuesday called for a swift military response to any terrorist attack using chemical, biological and radiological weapons.  He was inspecting a related exercise in Seoul with the scenario of warding off toxic gas spread by terrorists at an express bus terminal.   Soldiers at the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Defense Command participated in the training also involving a chopper and a reconnaissance robot, the Army said.  The drill was aime