The top U.S. military commander in South Korea on Wednesday offered full support for South Korea in case of future North Korean provocations, an official said.Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), attended the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff’s assessment of its operational situations and was briefed on South Korean forces’ postures and recent movements in the North Korean military, a JCS official said.Thurman and South Korean Army Gen. Jung Seung-jo, the JCS c

South Korea will hold a military drill in the West Sea on Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of North Korea’s attack on Yeonpyeongdo.In the drill, units including the Northwest Islands Defense Command, Air Force Operations Command and the Navy Operations Command will engage in an exercise simulating last year’s attack under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Jung Seung-jo. The exercise will also include a drill defending Baengnyeong Island against a North Korean attempt t

South Korean defense companies on Monday denied recent rumors that they’re under investigation by U.S. intelligence officials for allegedly stealing key U.S. weapons technologies.The companies, including shipbuilders like Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, told the Defense Acquisition Program Administration that they have never attempted to copy or steal U.S. technologies, DAPA officials told reporters.“We’ve checked with each and every related defense compa

The navies of South Korea and China will hold joint a naval exercise and military talks this week in China, South Korea’s Navy here said Monday.The navies will hold their fourth joint Search and Rescue Exercise, or SAREX, from Tuesday to Friday this week. The exercise will be held in waters off Ningbo and Shanghai, the South Korean Navy said.The two navies have previously held the SAREX in 2005, 2007 and 2008.South Korea will deploy its 4,500-ton Wang Geon destroyer, and China will send a frigat

The Air Force was found to have lost two highly classified documents and failed to notify the proper authorities for several months, once again raising concerns over a lack of security within the military. According to information revealed by Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the Democratic Party, Operational Plan 3600-06 and Operational Order 2500 were lost in December 2010 after the then-chief of Air Force Operations Command Lieutenant General Lee Young-man reviewed them. Lee is currently serving as the d

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- The Air Force last year negligently disposed of classified documents but only reported the files as missing nine months after the fact, a lawmaker said Monday.According to Democratic Party Rep. Shin Hak-yong, an orderly of a senior Air Force officer threw away the Air Forc

Wendy R. Sherman, a top U.S. State Department official, will visit South Korea next week to discuss alliance issues, the department announced Friday.The under secretary for political affairs plans to meet with a range of senior officials on Tuesday to "explore how to expand the depth and breadth of

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The United States is not considering a revision of the legal guidelines on the status of its 28,000 troops in South Korea, the nominee to become a top U.S. defense official said Thursday, despite a renewed call for it in South Korea.Mark W. Lippert, nominee for assistant secretary of defense fo Asian and Pacific security affairs, said in a Senate confirmation hearing that Washington wants continued flexibility in implementing the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) rathe

A missing U.S. military rifle was found Thursday near a local air base, where President Lee Myung-bak departed aboard a presidential jet on the same day for Indonesia to attend a regional summit, an official said Friday.The U.S. Forces Korea official said a civilian found the M4 rifle on Thursday on a road near Seoul Airport, located in Seongnam, just south of the capital city. The discovery apparently alarmed the presidential security detail, but the rifle has since been returned to the U.S. un

The United States is not considering a revision of the legal guidelines on the status of its 28,000 troops in South Korea, the nominee to become a top U.S.defense official said Thursday, despite a renewed call for it in South Korea.Mark W. Lippert, nominee for assistant secretary of defense fo Asian

Two sides to discuss possible change to regulations for American soldiersThe Korea-U.S. SOFA Joint Committee will meet on Nov. 23 to discuss issues regarding custody of U.S. military personnel suspected of committing crimes in Korea.The SOFA, or status of forces agreement, outlines the conditions applied to U.S. military personnel stationed in Korea and their dependents. The agreement includes details regarding their treatment when involved in criminal cases. The development comes as a spike in

The North Korean military conducted two anti-ship missile tests in the West Sea in October and this month. “The North Korean military test fired air-to-ship missiles twice, in October and earlier this month, using an IL-28 bomber jet over the West Sea,” an unnamed government official was quoted as saying by a local news agency. The official also said that the South Korean military has been strengthening its anti-air defenses from both ships and ground positions in response to the North’s apparen

The Defense Ministry said Tuesday it will make a donation to victims of recent earthquakes in Turkey, a close military partner for South Korea.The ministry said its employees and those working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other branches of the service collected about 26 million won ($23,090) in relief aid for Turkey. On Oct. 23 and again last Thursday, Van province in the eastern part of the country was ravaged by huge earthquakes that killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless.A

The Cabinet passed a bill that would force those convicted of cheating on their physical to avoid military duty into mandatory service.Under the revised enforcement ordinance for the military service law, those who receive prison terms for injuring themselves or cheating at physical tests to avoid their mandatory military duty will no longer be eligible for military exemption.The bill also would also end military exemption for those who did not finish middle school.In South Korea, all able-bodie

Air Force in-house programmers to set up second line of missile defenseThe Air Force will independently upgrade core software for its guided missile system against North Korea in efforts to save money and prevent a possible technology leak, the state arms acquisition agency said Monday.It and Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration have been in talks with the U.S. government over the software upgrade, for which Washington offered a price of some 15 billion won ($13.3 million), officia