South Korea will conduct a large scale military exercise on its east coast ahead of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, official sources said Wednesday.The combined arms exercise involving Army, Air Force and Navy units will be carried out from noon through 9 p.m. Thursday with a focus on counte

The main U.S. Army installation in Seoul has banned the sale of alcohol after 9 p.m. under a new policy going into effect this week, a report said Tuesday.The Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper, said Col. William Huber, commander of the U.S. Army’s Yongsan Garrison, is seeking to promote “the health and welfare of the military community” and that the policy, which takes effect this Thursday, is meant to “standardize the hours for alcohol sales for Army and Air Force Exchange Service fa

Seoul’s anti-smallpox measures fall far short of U.S.South Korea remains unprepared to deal with the smallpox virus, despite North Korea’s biological capabilities.While Pyongyang’s nuclear program remains central to security issues, the communist state is considered to have significant biological warfare capabilities.The Ministry of National Defense states in the defense white paper that North Korea has biological capabilities, including synthesizing the smallpox virus, and the U.S. regards Sout

South Korea and Russia are scheduled to hold their inaugural defense strategic talks this week in Moscow, discussing regional security and bilateral defense exchanges, officials here said Monday.The Defense Ministry here said Lim Kwan-bin, the South‘s deputy defense minister for policy, will travel to Russia this Thursday for the talks. Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s deputy defense minister handling international cooperation, will be his counterpart.“The two sides will talk about security situations

The commanding general of the country’s top special forces unit has been relieved of his duties for allegedly having inappropriate relations with a subordinate, Army officials said Friday.Brig. Gen. Choi Ik-bong, commander of the Special Warfare Command, also recently expressed his intention to retire from the service, officials added, after the Army launched an investigation into suspicions that he engaged in inappropriate relations with a female staff sergeant in 2009. Choi, then a major gener

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― North Korea delivered a “private message” to the U.S. government on its plan to conduct another nuclear test in 2009, along with its intent to enrich uranium, a former top White House official said in his book recounting the Obama administration’s policy on East Asia.“In April the North Koreans sent Washington a private message making several threats: to explode a nuclear device, to develop an ICBM capable of reaching the United States, to enrich uranium to enable them

The commanding general of the U.S. Forces Korea has called out officers and non-commissioned officers for violating an off-base curfew, a report said Friday.The Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper, said Gen. James D. Thurman issued a memo last month titled “Leader Discipline.” In it, Thurman wrote that 168 U.S. service members were apprehended for curfew violations between October and December last year, more than 50 of whom were NCOs or officers.“These violations from leaders, who are

Navy says it will review Jeju government request to stop construction workWork on the naval base on Jeju Island continued Thursday amid protests from activists and local residents.The contractors began using explosives to clear parts of the so-called Gureombi Rock on Wednesday and conducted further explosions on Thursday. The partial demolition of the 1.2 kilometer-long rock formation is scheduled to take place over the following three months.Protestors also continued to demonstrate against the

More than 40 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded when South Korea returned fire for the North’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, a media report said Friday, quoting a source familiar with the battalion responsible for the assault.The attack on the South Korean border island killed two marines and two civilians, causing inter-Korean relations to deteriorate to their worst level in decades. The number of North Korean casualties from South Korea’s return fire has not

The Ministry of National Defense has distributed its first guidelines on the military’s response to potential biological terror attacks by North Korea, a lawmaker said Friday. Rep. Song Young-sun of the ruling Saenuri Party said the ministry handed out the guidelines from late last year to early this year. About 130 pages long, the guidelines cover the armed forces’ response to bioterrorism at different echelons and swift medical support in the aftermath, Song added. The guidelines also detail c

More than 40 North Korean soldiers were killed or wounded when South Korea returned fire for the North’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, a media report said Friday, quoting a source familiar with the battalion responsible for the assault.The attack on the South Korean border