The Korea Herald

S. Korea’s maritime security challenged

May 24, 2012

Experts say Seoul should bolster Navy amid competition for maritime supremacyAmid intensifying competition among regional powers for maritime primacy, South Korea is not equipped to fend off growing threats to its territorial waters and assert its strategic interests, experts said.With its military prioritizing deterring North Korea and lack of public understanding of maritime security, the country is lagging behind China and Japan despite them repeatedly challenging Korean sovereignty, experts
Seoul plans to beef up missile arsenal

May 22, 2012

‘Ministry plans to inject 2.5 trillion won over next five years’The South Korean military plans to significantly beef up its arsenal of precision-guided missiles to counter threats from North Korea, officials said Monday.“It is agreed that missile capabilities need to be reinforced in order to fundamentally improve our ability to respond to asymmetric threats from North Korea,” Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.He was responding to a news report that President Lee Myung-bak
Seoul seeks to boost military ties with China

May 21, 2012

South Korea recently approached China on signing an agreement regarding military supplies during emergency rescue operations as part of broadening defense cooperation between the two countries, officials said Monday.China, however, is reportedly cautious due to concerns that military agreements with Seoul may negatively impact North Korea.According to Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Kim Min-seok, the two countries are seeking an agreement similar to the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing
Military mulls leasing text-only mobile phones to soldiers

May 20, 2012

South Korea's military is reviewing a plan to lease text-only mobile phones to soldiers, in a move to allow them to better communicate with their family members, friends and loved ones, a military source said Sunday. Conscripts are banned from possessing mobile phones while on duty and on-base access to the Internet is strictly prohibited.Enlisted men currently only use public phones at their
Seoul cautiously optimistic on missile range extension

May 16, 2012

Uncertainty still lingers as Washington seems divided over S. Korea’s missile capabilitySouth Korea is cautiously optimistic over the prospect of revising a ballistic missile pact with the U.S. to have longer-range capabilities to bolster deterrence against North Korea, a government source said Wednesday.But as opinion appears divided within a Washington government that has spearheaded the global agenda of non-proliferation and arms control, uncertainty still lingers over the outcome of the rece
No plan to deploy tactical nukes in S. Korea: Pentagon

May 15, 2012

The Pentagon said Monday that it will not redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea."Our policy remains in support of a non-nuclear Korean peninsula. There is no plan to change that policy," a spokesperson for the Department of Defense told Yonhap News Agency on the customary condition of anonymity."Tactical nuclear weapons are unnecessary for the defense of South Korea and we have no plan
South Korea cautions against deployment of U.S. tactical nukes

May 14, 2012

Seoul officials and experts cautioned against the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula proposed by some in the United States, which they fear could refuel an atomic arms race in Northeast Asia. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved an amendment to the fiscal 2013 national defense authorization bill that calls for the re-introduction of the sensitive weapons to South Korea, according to the diplomacy publication Foreign Policy.While the South Kor
N.K. defectors may be allowed into military in the South

May 14, 2012

The Defense Ministry is studying a proposal to allow young North Korean defectors here do military service, officials said on Monday.About 3,600 North Koreans under the age of 20 have come to South Korea since the early 1990s, according to the Ministry of Unification’s data.Citing unnamed high-level military officials, a local newspaper reported the ministry is considering revising related laws to allow North Koreans in the eligible age groups join the armed forces.The order came from Minister o
Korea, U.S. to hold bio-threat exercise

May 11, 2012

Korea and the U.S. will conduct an anti-biological threat exercise from May 15 until 18, the Ministry of National Defense announced Friday. Known as the Able Response 12, the exercise will involve 50 Korean and U.S. government organizations and 190 experts from related fields. The exercise, held for the second time, is designed to test the country’s capabilities in responding to biological threats that occur naturally such as avian influenza epidemics as well as those arising from acts of terror
Korea closer to selling trainer planes to Peru

May 11, 2012

Korea and Peru have made significant progress in the negotiations concerning trade of Korea’s KT-1 training aircraft, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala said Friday. “With regards to defense industry cooperation, we are interested in pilot training and the negotiations with the Korean government have made significant progress,” Humala said on Friday. Korea has been in talks with Peru since last year to export the KT-1 turboprop training aircraft. “The training aircraft issue will soon take shape.
22 more nations recognized for support in Korean War

May 10, 2012

The number of countries recognized as having supported South Korea or expressing intent to do so during the Korean War was officially revised to 63 from the previous 41 on Thursday.According to the Ministry of National Defense, research has shown that 22 countries that had until now not received recognition had in fact sent supplies or expressed the intent to do so during the 1950-53 war. The ministry said that the figure used until now was based on incomplete records, but the recent declassific
South Korea, Japan to sign defense pacts

May 8, 2012

South Korea and Japan are moving to lay the ground for closer military cooperation as the North Korea threat and regional instability grows. The two countries are pushing to sign two military agreements by the end of the month, according to Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense. Korea and Japan have been working together to form the General Security of Military Information Agreement and Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement since January last year, during Japanese Minister of Defense Toshimi
Allies begin largest-ever joint air defense drill

May 7, 2012

South Korea and the U.S. launched their largest joint air defense exercise against North Korean attacks on Monday amid tension over its possible nuclear test. Based on the U.S.-led multinational air exercise Red Flag, the Max Thunder exercise was introduced in 2008 as a biannual event.The first Max Thunder exercise of this year, which will continue until May 18, is being conducted at the largest scale yet with 60 military aircraft taking part. South Korean Air Force will participate with 38 airc
Aircraft procurement chief replaced ahead of key fighter jet program

May 7, 2012

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration removed its chief aircraft procurement officer Monday after it was discovered that his brother represented a U.S. firm bidding for the Air Force fighter jet contract. Air Force Brigadier General Kim Bo-keun was replaced as the chief of the DAPA division overseeing the FX-III program by Brigadier General Kim Yeon-hwan, who heads the Air Force Studies and Assessments Analysis Wing. The reshuffle came only five months before the aircraft for the FX-III
LIG Nex1 develops radar technology

May 2, 2012

Defense equipment maker LIG Nex1 has developed a long-range radar that would allow the nation to monitor airspace over the Korean Peninsula using local technology. The company said it is currently building the country’s first radar, reported to have a range of about 400 kilometers, placing North Korea within its detection range. Although the technology developed by LIG Nex1 is unable to track the trajectory of missiles, its development is expected to contribute to Seoul’s ability to monitor Nort