The defense ministry said Thursday it is scheduled to finish cleaning up former U.S. military bases returned to South Korea by the end of this week.The ministry said 16 former U.S. installations have been cleaned up after more than two and a half years of work, covering 425.7 million square meters. One other base will join the list by July next year, it added.The U.S. forces here have returned 48 of 80 designated bases amid an ongoing relocation of their troops, and 17 of those 48 showed soil co

A U.S.-made advanced surveillance aircraft will take part in live military drills next year for the first time since joining the Air Force here in September, an official said Tuesday.An Air Force official said the E-737 aircraft by Boeing will join the joint Max Thunder exercises between South Korea and the U.S. The biannual exercises are scheduled for May and October next year.The airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) was dubbed “Peace Eye” after a naming contest in 2008.“The participation

A Britain-registered ship carrying missiles to South Korea has been detained in Finland after trying to avoid a typhoon, a South Korean official said Tuesday.According to the official with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the ship Thor Liberty, which was delivering 69 Patriot missiles from Germany to South Korea, was impounded in Kotka, southern Finland, on Dec. 15. The vessel had left a northern German port of Emden on Dec. 13.The official said it was en route to South Korea befo

South Korea’s plan to purchase Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance planes has been put off by one year as the U.S. government has not agreed to the sale yet, a government source said Monday. With the planned purchase of the Global Hawks hitting a snag, South Korea plans to invite two more models of U.S.-made spy drones ― the Global Observer made by AeroVironment and Boeing’s Phantom Eye ― to bid for the project, the source said. “We will map out a new acquisition plan next year to select one amo

South Korea plans to buy two advanced reconnaissance planes from France by 2015, to allow the military to intercept radio messages from of North Korea, a government source said Monday. The South’s military will replace some of its aging spy planes with the militarized specialty version of “Falcon-2000” jet, produced by France’s Dassault Aviation, to keep closer watch on North Korea, the source said on the condition of anonymity. “The military decided to introduce two Falcon-2000 reconnaissance p

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to buy two advanced reconnaissance planes from France by 2015, to allow the military to intercept radio messages from of North Korea, a government source said Monday. The South's military will replace some of its aging spy planes with the militarized spec

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering signed a contract to build three submarines for the Indonesian navy on Tuesday.The contract calls for DSME to build three 1,400-ton submarines for the Indonesian navy for a total of $1.1 billion, making the contract the largest single defense contract to be awarded to a Korean firm.With the addition of the latest contract, the value of Korea’s defense exports so far this year has been pushed up to $2.4 billion, the Defense Acquisition Program Administra

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said Tuesday he will "reconsider" the plan to light Christmas tree towers near the border this week, as South Korea looks to take a low-key stance after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.Asked about the scheduled lighting ceremony during a parliamentary sessi

South Korea is pushing to develop infiltration boats equipped with stealth functions as part of efforts to increase its maritime combat ability, a military source said Saturday.“(The military) is pushing to develop stealth function-equipped special infiltration boats and other supporting craft with the nation’s own technologies by spending about 900 billion won ($777.2 million),” the source said on condition of anonymity. Under the project, the military will build about 20-30 special infiltratio

South Korea is pushing to developinfiltration boats equipped with stealth functions as part of efforts to increase its maritime combat ability, a military source said Saturday."(The military) is pushing to develop stealth function-equipped special infiltration boats and other supporting craft with t

South Korea and the U.S. held annual talks on promoting defense industry cooperation, Seoul‘s state procurement agency said Tuesday.The 42nd annual meeting of the Defense Technology and Industrial Cooperation Committee (DTICC) took place in Washington on Monday local time, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said.Noh Dae-rae, head of the DAPA, and Frank Kendall III, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, co-chaired the meeting.The DTICC is