Global arms investment in 2013 fell by 1.9 percent from the year before, mainly due to a sharp drop in military spending by the United States, a Swedish arms watchdog said Monday. According to the annual report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, countries worldwide spent $1.7 trillion on boosting their militaries. The annual budget of the U.S. came first with $640 billion, but was 7.8 percent less than the year before.With the exception of the U.S., however, the world saw a

Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Friday that the three drones, recently found in frontline regions, were “definitely” from North Korea, citing circumstantial evidence including their filming of South Korean military facilities.Announcing the interim result of their probe, the ministry also said that it would form a scientific investigation team with civilian experts from Korea and the U.S. to confirm Pyongyang’s responsibility for sending the drones.“Based on circumstantial evidence, the drones wer

For security authorities, prudence and restraint are the most crucial virtues ― particularly when they are dealing with an unpredictable, provocative adversary like North Korea.But this week, South Korea’s Defense Ministry seemed to have forgotten those virtues as it struggled to mitigate the criticism over its failure to detect three drones, presumably from the communist state.The ministry on Tuesday revealed a series of key reconnaissance assets including its unmanned aerial vehicles, which it

Korea, U.S. consider including anti-drone steps in joint operational plans

South Korea is pushing to buy about 10 low-altitude radars from Israel to better detect small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and thereby counter threats posed by North Korean drones, military officials said Wednesday. The military has been hastily preparing measures to step up its surveillance capability, in the wake of the discovery of three small UAVs near the tensely guarded border with North Korea in recent weeks.  The suspected North Korean drones equipped with cameras, which contained pho

Calls are rising for disciplinary action against military leaders responsible for failing to block apparent North Korean drone activities, which have revealed vulnerabilities in the country’s air defense.Ruling and opposition party lawmakers alike denounced the military for its ill-preparedness after three drones, presumably from the communist state and used for espionage purposes, were found in both eastern and western frontline areas.“The Defense Ministry should carry out an internal inspectio

President Park Geun-hye on Monday blasted the South Korean military’s inability to detect and block North Korean drones, calling for a stepped-up security posture.Her criticism came as Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin convened a meeting of the top military brass to enhance air defense, which critics argue proved “porous” after the discovery of three drones, presumably from the North.“The drones appeared to have carried out their reconnaissance missions in all directions of our country, and our mili

The recent discovery of three drones, presumably from North Korea, is drawing keen attention to the types of unmanned aerial vehicles the communist state has and their military capabilities.Pyongyang is known to have begun developing military drones in the 1990s as they could serve as a lethal yet low-cost weapons system.Seoul officials believe that the North has imported a series of drones, which were made in China, Russia and other nations, and modified them to serve for its specific military

The South Korean military on Sunday discovered another small drone, presumably from North Korea, on a mountain in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, some 130 kilometers from the inter-Korean border.The sky-blue, triangle-shaped drone is the same as the one found in Paju last month. A wild-ginseng digger first found the drone on Oct. 4 last year and reported it to the military authorities last Friday, the Defense Ministry said.  Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin plans to convene a meeting of top military co

The South Korean military succeeded last month in test-firing a new ballistic missile with a range of 500 km, enough to strike any military target in North Korea. South Korea plans to deploy it next year.The development came after Seoul and Washington agreed in October 2012 to revise their bilateral pact to allow the South to develop ballistic missiles with a range of up to 800 kilometers, up from the previous 300 km.Seoul’s Defense Ministry revealed the test result last Friday, as security conc