NK’s 2nd launch driven by Kim Jong-un's political motives, says Defense Ministry

South Korea's military has identified the remains of another soldier killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, more than a decade after their first discovery at a former battle site, the defense ministry said Friday. The ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification and the 1st Marine Division recovered the remains of Ssg. Hwang Byeong-jun in the coastal county of Yeongdeok, 238 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 2010 and 2017. KIA stands for killed in action. The agency later ident

President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Command Post Theater Air Naval Ground Operations, known as CP Tango, to inspect the situation of the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on the third day of the joint South Korea-US military drill on Wednesday. During a briefing, Yoon received a report on the exercise situation. "Since the establishment of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command in 1978, CP Tango has served as the brain directing the military forces of both nations on land, sea and air," Yoon sa

Some experts say NK corvette capable of firing long-range cruise missile

South Korea and the United States have held an in-person meeting on cooperation in excavating the remains of troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, following a four-year hiatus caused by COVID-19, Seoul's defense ministry said Wednesday. Officials from the ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification and the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency met at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday. KIA stands for killed in action, while POW and MIA are short for pr

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates were staging combined high-tech military drills, Seoul's Army said Wednesday, amid efforts to bolster bilateral military cooperation. The exercise is underway at the Korea Combat Training Center, a facility employing cutting-edge technologies for realistic ground drills, in Inje, 165 kilometers east of Seoul, from Aug. 7-18, according to the armed service. The drills mobilized some 2,500 troops to the facility, including a platoon of the UAE's a

The South Korean Navy will participate in an annual multinational humanitarian assistance exercise in the Indo-Pacific later this month to sharpen combined operational capabilities, the armed service said Wednesday. It plans to send its Cheonjabong landing ship as well as 180 personnel, including Marines, to the Pacific Partnership exercise, which began on Aug. 9 and will run through Nov. 21. Its contingent is set to join parts of the exercise in the Philippines and Malaysia from Aug. 21-Sept. 1

South Korea and the United States are set to conduct "tough" yet defense-oriented military exercises simulating real-life scenarios, with the goal to strengthen the alliance's defense posture and ability to respond to the escalating missile and nuclear threats posed by North Korea. The 11-day computer-simulated "Ulchi Freedom Shield" exercise is planned for Aug. 21-31, including a weekend pause on Aug. 26 and 27, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and US Forces Kor

South Korea will confer state medals and awards on 100 late independence fighters to honor their sacrifices in the resistance movement against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula, the veterans ministry said Monday. The independence fighters will be awarded with decorations posthumously Tuesday when the country commemorates the 78th anniversary of Liberation Day, according to the ministry. Those to be awarded include Frank Earl Cranston Williams, an American missionary wh

The last surviving Korean independence fighter living in Japan will return home early next week, Seoul's veterans ministry said Thursday, just days before South Korea marks the anniversary of liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. Oh Seong-gyu will arrive in South Korea on Sunday, accompanied by Veterans Minister Park Min-shik, after expressing his wishes to reside in his home country to the ministry following the death of his wife in 2018. Oh will undergo a medical examination

A United Nations rights envoy has expressed concern over the South Korean government as it allowed the Myanmar ambassador to Seoul to attend an event promoting weapons systems in May, according to the envoy's letter on Wednesday. Thomas Andrews, the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, made the remarks over Myanmar Ambassador Thant Sin's attendance at the event in Pocheon, 52 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on May 2 that demonstrated tanks and other weapons to fo

Independent panel launched under Moon administration set to disband in September

The remains of revered Korean independence fighter Choi Jae-hyung and his wife will be symbolically reunited in South Korea, having been separated across Russia and Kyrgyzstan for over a century. The reunion comes more than 100 years after Choi was tragically shot dead by the imperial Japanese army. Choi's body was hidden by the Japanese military and has not been found, so soil from where he died will be used instead. On Aug. 11, South Korea will bring soil from the place where Choi is thou

The South Korean defense minister has embarked on his inaugural trip to Uzbekistan with a significant goal of leveling up defense and arms industrial cooperation and pioneering the new arms sales market in Central Asia. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup is scheduled to visit Uzbekistan, a "special strategic partner and key friendly country in Central Asia," from Monday to Thursday, South Korea's Defense Ministry announced Monday. Lee's trip to Uzbekistan holds the significance of

South Korea's veterans ministry has chosen a late Marine Corps commander as next month's Korean War hero for his leadership in front-line combat operations during the 1950-53 conflict, officials said Monday. The late Lt. Gen. Kim Sung-eun is credited with successfully leading key wartime missions, including retaking a hill held by North Koreans in Changwon, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Aug. 6, 1950, to stall the enemy's advance. He also successfully led a surprise a