Israel has expressed an interest in buying four frigates from South Korea and plans to send a team of its officials to Seoul next month to pursue a potential deal, a Seoul official said Saturday."Israel recently expressed an interest to buy four frigates," said the official at the state-run weapons procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The official said Israel will "send its due diligence team to two South Korean manufacturers of warships in the middle of next mo

The Defense Ministry’s rare unveiling this week of the country’s missile defense concept has sparked speculation that it is setting the mood for purchasing a U.S.-made advanced missile program to handle North Korea’s threats.The ministry on Tuesday outlined its low-tier missile interception system, saying that a North Korean ballistic missile can be detected some 40 seconds after lift-off first by the U.S. early warning satellite. It said that without it, it would take at least 100 seconds to de

Five military intelligence officers were referred to the military prosecution for punishment on charges of paid sex, embezzlement and other wrongdoings that have been covered up for up to more than two years, the defense ministry said Tuesday.The Defense Security Command officers got away with internal disciplinary measures, such as transfers to field units, without facing formal charges as their agency did not refer the cases for investigation over concern its image could be tarnished.Four seni

 South Korea's plan to purchase 60 advanced combat fighters is expected to roll over into next year as negotiations have dragged on, with the next government widely expected to complete the multi-billion dollar project after December's presidential election, according to procurement officials Monday.The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by Lockheed Martin, the F-15 SE Silent Eagle by Boeing and the Eurofighter by Europe's multinational defense group EADS have been vying for the fighter jet purchase prog

South Korea has picked the state-funded Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) as the preferred bidder to develop unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for reconnaissance missions, the state procurement agency said Monday.In an arms acquisition committee meeting, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin approved the plan to select KAI as the preferred bidder for the advanced UAVs for the main system and aircraft, LIG for the ground control and radar system, and Samsung Thales for the data link system, the Defense Acqui

South Korea and the U.S. military agreed on Wednesday to strengthen cooperation on space and cyber security to counter North Korea’s provocations.The defense chiefs of the two allies also said that they have developed a roadmap to boost extended deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear threats.South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta held their annual security talks in Washington D.C.“Both sides decided to develop a tailored bilateral deterrence stra

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Wednesday that Washington is still in consultations with Seoul over its future role in a regional missile defense system."With regards to future missile defense, that's an area we continue to discuss in order to make sure that we have all of the defenses necessary to deal with the missile threat coming fromNorth Korea and whatever steps are necessary to try to make sure that we are prepared for that," Panetta told reporters after talks with his South K

About 10 North Korean defectors said Monday they had floated tens of thousands of anti-Pyongyang leaflets as they brushed off the North's latest threats of military attacks.The defectors announced on a Web site that they launched balloons carrying about 120,000 leaflets at 6 p.m. from South Korea's western island of Gangwha, which is close to North Korea.Park Sang-hak, who has led a high-profile campaign to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets for years, said separately the leaflets criticized North Kor

   EUIJEONGBU -- A municipal government expressed concern Sunday over a U.S. plan to redeploy a unit in their region, saying it would undermine a project to replace the U.S. base with a college campus.   The U.S. Army plans to relocate the 23rd Chemical Battalion from the U.S. state of Washington to Camp Stanley in Euijeongbu, just north of Seoul, by March of next year, an official of the Euijeongbu city government said Sunday.   The relocation would come nine years after the unit withdrew from

Experts say more realistic troop education, firmer discipline should be givenThe recent unchecked border crossing by a North Korean soldier has underscored the South Korean military’s complacency, slackened discipline and outmoded troop education, experts said.Some also pointed out that the incident revealed the troops’ difficulty patrolling the mountainous frontline areas around the clock, calling for a fundamental change in guarding the border.The porous security has caused public discontent a

South Korea's defense minister issued a public apology Monday over the undetected defection early this month of a North Korean soldier through the heavily armed border and announced disciplinary measures against those responsible for the incident. "I acknowledge that the North Korean soldier's defection apparently shows the failure of security and flaws in the emergency reporting system. I sincere

The U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) said Sunday that South Korea's improved missile range will bolster its "defensive capability" to counter North Korea's ballistic missile threat.It emphasized the communist nation poses the most urgent threat to its area of jurisdiction -- the Pacific Ocean."This improved range distance will provide a defensive capability that will allow the ROK and allies to defend