A South Korean warship carrying some 500 personnel departed Wednesday for Australia to participate in a biennial multinational maritime exercise set to begin next month, the Navy said. The 14,500-ton ROKS Marado amphibious landing ship left a military port in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to join the Talisman Sabre exercise slated to take place in a northeastern region of Australia from July 22-Aug. 4. Jointly hosted by the United States and Australia, this year's edition of the

The United States is working with allies and partners, namely South Korea and Japan, to deter potential aggression from North Korea, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday, after Pyongyang warned that the Korean Peninsula is on the "brink of a nuclear war." Department of Defense spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder noted the North may conduct a nuclear test to further its escalation. "So rhetoric aside, again, our focus is on working with our allies and our partners in the region to en

South Korea's military manpower agency said Tuesday that new recruits at boot camps will be able to use mobile phones for one hour on weekends and holidays starting from July 3. The change is part of moves to allow enlisted troops to use mobile phones. In May, the defense ministry said it plans to expand a trial program allowing enlisted troops to use mobile phones on their bases later this year. From July through December, the program will be applied to some 60,000 enlistees, around 20 per

Drone command to be launched in September, headquarters location not decided

South Korea's defense authorities on Monday endorsed a plan to upgrade the homegrown K9 self-propelled howitzer to bolster its strike capabilities, the state arms procurement agency said. The Defense Project Promotion Committee gave the nod to the 2.36 trillion-won ($1.81 billion) basic plan for the second upgrade project of the K9 scheduled to run through 2027, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The "Block-I" upgrade project seeks to automate the ammunit

South Korea's Navy will deploy women officers aboard 3,000-ton submarines for the first time starting next year, breaking the longstanding glass ceiling within the country's military after 31 years since the Navy commissioned its first-ever Jang Bogo submarine in 1993. Seven non-commissioned female officers were selected earlier this month out of a pool of 22 applicants to serve on submarines, the Navy announced Monday. The Navy had initially planned to select four non-commissioned fem

South Korea's prime minister on Sunday called for the establishment of genuine peace by further strengthening the military, saying that North Korea's persistent missile and nuclear threats are driven by an outdated mindset and perceptions stemming from the Korean War. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivered a speech during a ceremony commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the start of the Korean War on June 25. The Korean War began 73 years ago in 1950 when North Korea launched a sudden a

South Korea's military has identified the remains of another soldier killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, about 13 years after their discovery near the inter-Korean border, the defense ministry said Friday. The ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification confirmed the remains belonged to Pfc. Kim Hyeon-taek, after conducting a DNA analysis using a sample from his daughter. KIA stands for "killed in action." The agency first discovered part of his remains in Cheorwo

88-year-old Korean War vet who loaded bombs onto US jets recalls soldiers' bravery and sacrifices that set foundation for modern S.Korea

South Korea and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have signed an arrangement to launch the mutual recognition process for military airworthiness certification, Seoul's defense procurement agency said Thursday. Representatives from Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the NATO Aviation Committee inked it at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, in a move to strengthen bilateral cooperation on air safety. Airworthiness is a key measure of a plane's suita

8 Polish pilots in S. Korea for FA-50 operation training as delivery of combat aircraft starts in August

South Korea completed an environmental impact assessment of a US THAAD missile defense unit in a southern county Wednesday, the defense and environment ministries said, clearing the way for its full-fledged deployment. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been pushing for the "normalization" of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, which was installed in Seongju, 214 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 2017, but has held the status of a "temporary" installation pendi

The South Korean military has adopted an aggressive counter-drone operational principle, under which a single North Korean drone infiltration would prompt it to send 10 or more unmanned aerial vehicles into Pyongyang, a source said Tuesday. The measure is part of Seoul's efforts to beef up air defenses after five North Korean drones intruded across the inter-Korean border in December last year, with one of them having penetrated a no-fly zone close to Seoul's presidential office. The C

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday called on the military to make full preparations for a successful launch of its drone operations command later this year to respond "effectively and overwhelmingly" to North Korean drone provocations. Han made the remarks while presiding over a weekly Cabinet meeting during which a bill on the establishment of the drone operations command was approved. He asked the defense ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to "make every effort to ensure

US strategic asset deployment is step to implement April 26 Washington Declaration: ministry