South Korea’s arms procurement agency said Thursday it will resume accepting bids from three aircraft makers in August to supply 60 fighter jets at a cost of 8.3 trillion won ($7.2 billion), a decision aimed at avoiding further delay of the project.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced the decision in a meeting presided over by Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, three weeks after it temporarily stopped the bidding due to the competitors’ expensive price tags. Boeing’s F-15 Silent

The Defense Ministry submitted a 214.5 trillion won ($192.6 billion) budget request for the 2014-2018 fiscal year to the parliament for deliberation on Thursday, which focuses on beefing up South Korea’s missile program against North Korea’s nuclear and missile weapons.The budget proposal calls for 70.2 trillion won of the total, or 13.7 percent, to be used to purchase a missile shield program, including ballistic and cruise missiles as well as multipurpose commercial satellites and high-altitud

President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that English-dominant private middle schools should be stripped of their status as specialized institutions if they are found to be involved in admission fraud and other corruption.The remark came after Seoul’s Younghoon International Middle School was found to have accepted unqualified students in exchange for bribes. After a two-month probe, prosecutors indicted nine officials last week, including the chairman of the school’s board.Unlike ordinary middle sc

The government said Tuesday it will create programs to prevent school violence and bullying, and put them on the regular curriculum by 2017.The country has been grappling with unrelenting violence at schools, which led to a series of suicides by bullied students in 2011. In the wake of the tragic incidents, the Prime Minister’s Office set up a pan-governmental commission to deal with the issue. Under the second version of its comprehensive countermeasures announced on Tuesday with a greater emph

A confiscated insurance product belonging to the wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan has been purchased with assets inherited from her ancestors, a lawyer representing the couple said Tuesday.As part of efforts to collect a massive fine that the former military dictator owes the state, prosecutors have seized a personal pension insurance policy worth 3 billion won ($2.68 million) that was opened under the name of former first lady Lee Soon-ja.“I came here to pick up a document that can prove

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The United States government is working to sell hundreds of advanced, medium-range, air-to-air missiles to South Korea, according to a Pentagon agency.The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Friday it has notified Congress of the possible sale to South Korea of 260 AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, as well as related parts, training and logistical support.The estimated cost is $452 million, it added.“The proposed sale will provide the ROK

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Friday they proposed reviewing the transfer of wartime operational control during their talks with the U.S. counterparts since May.“We shared our thoughts with the U.S. Forces Korea commander in early May and conveyed the same message to U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel,” said Defense Ministry deputy spokesman Colonel Wee Yong-sub.Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin further explained to Hagel in their meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June, but used the wor

Washington could use delay as leverage in negotiations over burden-sharing cost

The Pentagon's top military officer said Thursday there are "some setbacks" in efforts to get South Korea ready for the takeover of wartime operational control(OPCON) of its troops by the agreed-upon date of Dec. 1, 2015.But Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said he still supports the OPCON transition as scheduled."From a military perspective, the timing of the transfer of wartime OPCON is appropriate," he said in a written answer submitted to the Senate

Tax officials and prosecutors have launched an investigation into suspicions that assets of former President Chun Doo-hwan might be concealed in diverse insurance products under the names of his family members, relatives and close aides, industry sources said Thursday.The probe is part of intensifying efforts by the government to find concealed assets of the former president who was ordered by a court in 1997 to return to the state coffers the 220 billion won ($196.8 million) he was found to hav

The Defense Ministry said Thursday it would abolish its controversial promotion squad of celebrity conscripts following a series of cases of indiscipline that have undermined troop morale and public trust.The squad has been under criticism since a TV program showed several stars-turned-soldiers drinking, leaving their designated accommodation without notice, and visiting an adult massage parlor after performing in a provincial concert last month.The incident reignited controversy over slack disc

Officials say they requested talks with U.S. in the wake of N.K. nuclear threat