South Korea is in the final stage of negotiations with Indonesia over their partnership on a local fighter jet development program and the results will possibly come early next week, the defense procurement agency said Thursday."(Bilateral negotiations) are in the finalizing stage," Kim Si-cheol, spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said at a press briefing. "The result is possible for early next week." Indonesia previously agreed with South Korea last month to shoulder 2

China appears to oppose the potential deployment of a THAAD missile defense unit to South Korea because the system reduces the value of Beijing's missile inventory aimed for regional dominance, a U.S. government commission report said Wednesday.The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission made the assessment in its annual report to Congress, noting that Beijing's stated reason for its opposition to U.S. missile defense is concern about the value of China's nuclear arsenal.However, thea

The Military Mutual Aid Association, the fifth-largest institutional investor in South Korea, is considering a new business opportunity in the private military company sector, a high-ranking official of the fund said Wednesday.The MMAA forecast expanded business opportunities in the private military company segment as the local military is moving to outsource more of its non-combat services down the road, Lee Deok-keon, the association's managing director for planning and coordination said in a

The military has signed a deal to develop unmanned ground surveillance sensors to boost its capacity to monitor North Korean forces in the Demilitarized Zone, the defense procurement agency said Tuesday.The deal between the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the local defense manufacturer, Hanwha Thales, is worth 3.6 billion won ($3.1 million).The sensors will be installed in unmanned corners along the southern side of the DMZ, with the capacity to detect any infiltration attempts fr

The United States successfully conducted the latest test of its ballistic missile defense system early this month, with the THAAD and the Aegis systems working together to intercept multiple targets as intended in a layered defense design, according to a congressional report.The test was conducted in the vicinity of Wake Island in the western Pacific Ocean on Nov. 1, the Congressional Research Service said in a report on the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defense program, citing the U.S. Missile

The Defense Ministry is seeking to extend by one year the stationing of its troops off the coast of Somalia and the United Arab Emirates, officials said Wednesday, citing persistent pirate threats and the need for constant security cooperation with Middle Eastern countries. The agency is also pushing to put in place legislation to facilitate its future overseas dispatch of forces and participation in non-U.N. peacekeeping operations. Currently, some 320 soldiers of the Cheonghae Unit have been t

South Korea is moving to extend its peacekeeping operations in the Gulf of Aden and the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.Since early 2009, South Korea has stationed its Cheonghae military unit with a 4,000-ton Navy destroyer in the waters of the gulf, a hub of pirate activity situated in the Arabia Sea, as part of international efforts to help protect ships passing through the area. Some 500 South Korean vessels sail the region annually.The UAE, since 2011, h

The military is envisioning the deployment of combat marine forces on the island of Ulleung in the East Sea, a move that could add military pressure on North Korea and enhance the defense of the easternmost islets of Dokdo, a military official said Thursday.If the deployment vision is put into action, it could form a U-shaped coastal defense system linking the group of islands near the inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea and the southern resort island of Jeju to Ulleung, located about midway a

The Navy plans to carry out its regular defense exercise over Dokdo next week, the easternmost South Korean islets claimed by Japan, a Navy official said Wednesday.  "The exact date of the drill could be adjusted depending on weather conditions," the Navy official said.   The Coast Guard will also join the Dokdo drill, which South Korea has been conducting every spring and autumn since its inception in 1986.   A total of 10 warships, including a surface vessel and a guided-missile patrol killer,

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will visit Iran this week as the two countries seek to bolster bilateral ties in the wake of a nuclear deal with implications also for North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.  Yun's visit to Tehran on Saturday will be the first by a South Korean foreign minister in 14 years, and comes four months after Iran struck a landmark deal with the United States and other world powers to curb its uranium enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief.  Yun is sch

BANGKOK ― More than 400 arms manufacturers from some 50 countries around the globe gathered to explore opportunities for future exports and technological sharing at a tradeshow in Thailand on Monday. Defense & Security 2015 kicked off in the Southeast Asian country’s capital for a four-day run, drawing the highest number of participating countries and businesses since its launch in 2003. Nine major ship and aircraft makers and other arms producers are running booths at a 424-square-meter Korean

South Korea and the U.S. on Monday approved an operational guideline to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, reiterating their allied stance against the communist regime’s possible aggression and provocations.　During their annual Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul, Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his U.S. counterpart Ashton Carter also signed the allied plan to execute the “conditions-based” transfer of wartime operational control, which is expected to take place in the mid-20

South Korea and the U.S. agreed on Monday that they will not tolerate any aggression or military provocation by North Korea, reaffirming the U.S.' commitment to provide "extended deterrence" against the communist country's growing nuclear threats.  "Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reaffirmed that any North Korean aggression or military provocation is not to be tolerated and the Republic of Korea and the U.S. would work shoulder-to-shoulder to demonstrate our comb

Defense ministers of South Korea and the United States were to hold their annual talks Monday to discuss a range of defense issues, including how to handle North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats.   The 47th Security Consultative Meeting between Defense Minister Han Min-koo and U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is scheduled to kick off in the late morning at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul.   North Korea's nuclear and missile capacities are likely to be the main focus of t