The government on Monday accepted the resignation of the Navy chief who offered to quit over alleged corruption and named a vice admiral as his successor, the defense ministry said.Adm. Hwang Ki-chul expressed his will to step down from the post in December, two weeks after the state audit agency announced the outcome of an investigation into alleged graft involving the country's indigenous salvage ship, the ministry said in a statement.Chung Ho-seop, vice chief of naval operations, will replace

The military is pushing for a plan to immediately mobilize military personnel and equipment in case of large-scale disasters to better guarantee public safety, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.  It is part of the country's ongoing efforts to reform its 48-year-old system for integrated defense, which outlines how to respond to a wide range of threats such as enemies' attacks, disasters and terrorism. Earlier this month, key security agencies discussed the issue during a regular meeting pres

South Korea's defense ministry reaffirmed its commitment Monday to staging military drills next month with the United States as scheduled, despite North Korea's repeated demands to halt them.  Seoul and Washington plan to carry out their annual major drills -- Key Resolve, a computerized command post exercise, and the field training exercise Foal Eagle -- starting in early March to check and boost their crisis management abilities and joint readiness posture.  "The annual drills to defend the Ko

The United States plans to send a littoral combat ship to South Korea for their joint military exercise scheduled for next month, the U.S. navy said Sunday. The USS Fort Worth, a 3,450-ton Freedom-class littoral combat ship, will take part in the Seoul-Washington military drill Foal Eagle due next month during its rotational deployment to the 7th Fleet, said U.S. Naval Forces Korea spokesman Arlo Abrahamson in a statement.The allies plan to stage their annual field training exercise Foal Eagle i

China’s heavy-handed opposition to the possible deployment of a THAAD missile defense battery to South Korea could backfire and prompt greater public support in the South for a stronger alliance with the United States, an American expert said.Scott Snyder, a senior researcher on Korea at the Council Foreign Relations, made the point in a recent article posted on the CFR website, saying it makes no sense for Beijing to demand Seoul refrain from bolstering its missile defense capabilities “in the

The United States will send a larger number of troops to this year's major joint military exercises with South Korea than last year's, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday.The allies plan to stage their annual major drills -- Key Resolve, a computerized command post exercise (CPX), and the field training exercise (FTX) Foal Eagle -- starting in early March to check and boost their crisis management abilities and joint readiness posture."As for the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, the total

North Korea appears to have conducted a secret nuclear test in 2010 and the explosion could have gone unnoticed by the outside world, scientists have claimed, adding to a series of similar allegations.   Researchers Michael Schoeppner of Princeton University and Ulrich Kuhn of the University of Hamburg made the claim in an article on the website of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, citing a seismic analysis published last month.   In May 2010, multiple radionuclide and noble gas stations in

The United States and South Korea are discussing a wide range of military issues, including missile defense, but no consultations are under way about the controversial THAAD system, the Pentagon press secretary said Friday."We discuss a wide range of military missions and capabilities with our allies there. Some of those do include -- they would have to, of course, include the idea of missile defense. But there's no formal consultations on THAAD," Rear Adm. John Kirby said at a regular briefing.

The United States holds constant discussions with South Korea about the THAAD missile defense system, the Pentagon press secretary said Tuesday.“We all recognize the importance of the capability,” Rear Adm. John Kirby said during a press briefing in response to a question about whether the U.S. has had any talks with South Korea about the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system.“There’s constant discussions and certainly with our South Korean allies about that. But I have no detail to provide

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has actively toured military units to encourage his troops to be fully prepared to fight as part of efforts to consolidate his regime, Seoul's defense minister said Wednesday.  "Since November when the North began to stage winter drills, Kim has visited military units 10 times. While leading some aggressive exercises, he has encouraged the military to complete their readiness this year to fight," Defense Minister Han Min-koo told lawmakers.  While carrying out an

The United States holds constant discussions with South Korea about the THAAD missile defense system, the Pentagon press secretary has said.   "We all recognize the importance of the capability," Rear Adm. John Kirby said during a press briefing on Tuesday in response to a question about whether the U.S. has had any talks with South Korea about the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system.  "There's constant discussions and certainly with our South Korean allies about that. But I have no detai

The Cabinet decided Tuesday to empower the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff to control the operations of the cyber command as part of efforts to counter growing security threats online.Currently, the cyber command tasked with countering threats in cyberspace is under the Ministry of National Defense, with its activities being regarded more as administrative measures rather than military operations.At a weekly meeting, the Cabinet approved a revised decree on the cyber command, giving the JCS

A bid for South Korea's indigenous fighter development program failed on Monday due to a lack of bidders, leading to a second auction later this month, the state arms procurement agency said.Codenamed KF-X, the 8.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion) project calls for the country to develop and produce some 120 fighter jets of the F-16 class to replace its aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s."After closing the bid on Monday, the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. was found to be the sole applier," an official of