A satellite image by a U.S. company on Tuesday showed increased activity at North Korea's launch site used to fire off long-range missiles amid wide speculation over the North's looming missile test.The image taken on Nov. 23 and released by DigitalGlobe shows "a marked increase in activity at North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launch Station," the U.S. imagery provider said, referring to the North's west coast launch site, often used to send off long-range missiles. The launching site, also known as

Hyundai Rotem, a unit of Hyundai Motor Group, has been chosen as the preferred bidder to develop proprietary amphibious armored vehicles by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.DAPA plans to develop up to three test vehicles, complete with Korean-made parts and equipment by 2015, and will be deployed at infantry units for operation beginning in 2016, an DAPA official said.DAPA will finalize its negotiations with Rotem by the end of December.This is in line with efforts to build Korean

Defense officials in South Korea and the U.S. are closely monitoring signs that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile. The U.S. recently informed South Korea and Japan that it had detected via satellite North Korea transporting something shaped like a missile component from a weapons factory in Pyongyang to its missile assembly base in Dongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported Friday. “We are closely monitoring North Korea’s movements

A new fire station will go into operation in the joint inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday.“The Gaeseong complex fire station has been completed last month and will be put into motion around next month,” said an official of the ministry handling inter-Korean issues. The current fire house, installed within the building used by South Korea’s agency for managing the industrial zone, will move to the newly built three

South Korea on Friday commemorated the second anniversary of North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island near the tensely guarded western sea, as it prepared to conduct military drills to prepare for future attacks.North Korea lobbed 170 rounds of artillery onto the front-line island two years ago, killing two Marines and two civilians in the first attack on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. About 4,000 people, including bereaved family members, government officials and

South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development is seeking to revise laws to allow it to share and transfer ideas and technology more easily between itself, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the private sector.Its proposal for the revision is subject to approval by the National Assembly.The proposal comes as the agency plans to restructure some of its key divisions to set up a new unit focusing on developing new defense technology in collaboration with private companies, including

The Joint Chiefs of Staff’s operational readiness inspection unit will be restructured by the end of this year, defense officials said.The unit will be re-established under the wing of the Ministry of National Defense by early 2013, with an expanded role evaluating and overseeing comprehensive aspects of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, including munitions supplies, administration and the strategic command system.The JCS unit had been limited to inspection and evaluation of the milita

Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the United Forces in Korea, got a Korean name in a gesture of friendship and goodwill for his service in the nation, an alliance association said Friday.The Republic of Korea-U.S. Alliance Friendship Association conferred the name, "Seo Min Jae," to the four-star general, who is dual-hatted as the commander of the United Nations Command, during a ceremony held at the U.S. Army garrison in Yongsan, Seoul.The society has made a special plaque, containing a mess

An Air Force aerobatic jet crashed in northeastern South Korea on Thursday, killing its lone pilot and sparking a brush fire, police said.The T-50B plane went down at 10:28 a.m. on a mountain in Hoengseong, about 90 kilometers east of Seoul, and its pilot, identified only as Capt. Kim, 32, is believed dead, officials said.A parachute was found hanging from a tree about 70 meters from the scene, but the pilot was believed to have failed to eject, officials said. It was one of two planes that took

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to have the full authority to oversee the armed forces’ armaments and operational capability beginning next year.This is in line with efforts to streamline the chain of command between the Army, Air Force and Navy for faster decision-making, defense officials said.The JCS will be given the full power to comprehensively assess and make final decisions as to what weapon systems need to be upgraded or replaced and what is required to boost capabilities of each

The Air Force’s plan to purchase advanced air-to-surface missiles faces hurdles due to design and price problems, officials said Monday. The Air Force is trying to decide between Lockheed Martin’s JASSM and TAURUS Systems’ Taurus for the country’s fleet of F-15K strike fighters. However, defense officials said that JASSM missiles, which have the capability to penetrate North Korea’s underground bunkers, are not compatible with Boeing’s F-15Ks.On the other hand, the German-Swedish Taurus is highl