South Korea launched the country's first center for space monitoring on Wednesday as it aims to better prepare against emergency situations in space and track the passing of enemy satellites, the Air Force said.The space information operation center, opened at the Air Force headquarters in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province, located some 176 kilometers south of Seoul, will enable the military to better guard the country against accidents in space, such as the breakdown of the Russian cargo spa

Favorable prices and terms should take priority in South Korea's defense acquisition deals, the head of the military equipment acquisition agency said Tuesday following the country's surprise choice of Europe-based Airbus Defense and Space last week for its $1.3 billion project to supply aerial refueling tankers."Choosing arms systems that are cheap and in better terms is fundamental," Minister Chang Myoung-jin of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said in an interview with Yonhap Ne

A military officer is under a probe by military prosecutors over accusations that he leaked sensitive defense information to China, a source said Tuesday.The officer affiliated with the Defense Security Command allegedly handed over military intelligence information to a Chinese security agent, including intelligence on the latest activities of neighboring countries, which was filed by other military officers stationed abroad, the military source noted. DSC is a counter-espionage agency tasked w

South Korea will step up its participation in global peace-keeping operations, the military official in charge of foreign troops dispatch said Friday, as the country marks the three-year anniversary of PKO deployment in the violence-hit South Sudan.With the 5th rotation of forces of the 290-strong "Hanbit" unit arriving in the South Sudanese town of Bor this week, South Korea marks three years since the dispatch of the rebuilding forces.The Hanbit unit was dispatched to the town, located some 17

A retired Navy admiral was indicted Wednesday on charges of helping the world's top shipbuilder win a bid to build submarines in exchange for a high-ranking post at the company, prosecutors said.  The 45-year-old, only identified by his surname Seong, allegedly overlooked faulty parts in the 1,800-ton submarines built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. while working for the project evaluators at the submarine command between 2008 and 2009, they said.  Seong was hired at Hyundai Heavy Industries in

South Korea's Navy launched new rescue teams Wednesday to beef up its emergency response to maritime accidents after the sinking of the ferry Sewol killed more than 300 people last year.  Three rescue operation teams, each composed of about 15 deep-sea divers, will kick off their operations under three Navy fleets covering the eastern, western and southern waters, the Navy said in a statement.  The new teams are mainly tasked with initial-stage response and rescue operations in maritime disaster

The U.S. Army has completed two public hearings on its proposal to change the deployment of a THAAD missile defense battery on the island of Guam from temporary to permanent to cope with threats from North Korea.  The hearings, held on Thursday and Saturday, came after an environmental assessment found earlier this month that a permanent THAAD deployment on Guam won't have any significant environmental impact on the human and natural environment.  Lt. Col. Jeff Slown, commander of the THAAD unit

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert on Monday noted the need for Seoul and Washington to create an “official consultative mechanism” to discuss the U.S.’ potential deployment of an advanced missile defense asset to Korea.But he said during his courtesy visit to Rep. Moon Jae-in, chief of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, that it is premature yet to publicly discuss the dispatch of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, as Washington is still internally dis

South Korea plans to release personal information of those who evade compulsory military service starting next year, the military said Monday. The name, age, address and background of the draft evader will become available online if an active duty candidate continues to stay overseas illegally after the date of enlistment, dodges a physical examination for conscription or does not respond to the notice of enrollment, Defense Ministry deputy spokesman Na Seung-yong said. The measure will take eff

South Korea and the United States launched Monday a joint logistics exercise on the west coast to enhance their logistical war readiness, the allies said.   The Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore Exercise, which will run till July 9 at Anmyeon Beach, will train South Korean and U.S. "service members on how to accomplish vital logistical measures in an area with strategic access to Seoul," the Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command said in a press release.   Around 1,700 service memb

South Korea is expected to pick the winner of its 1.4 trillion won ($1.25 billion) project to procure four in-flight refueling tankers at a session of the National Defense Acquisition Program Committee on Tuesday, a procurement official said Sunday.“Included in the agenda for Tuesday’s session is the issue of determining the winner for the project,” an official at Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration said on condition of anonymity. “Unless anything else comes in at the last minute,

A group of international personalities calling for an end to nuclear testing visited the inter-Korean border Friday to face the only country that has tested nuclear weapons this century -- North Korea.The Group of Eminent Persons for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was launched in 2013 to promote the treaty's entry into force. Some its members, including Hans Blix, former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Angela Kane, former U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affai