South Korea has amended a conscription law to allow retired female officers to serve in the Reserve Forces, in line with a move to give women more opportunities in the military, officials said Thursday.Unlike men, retired women officers had been banned from being automatically admitted to the Reserve Forces because their military service is not mandatory by law. The revised law means that female o

The Navy decided to suspend the operation of the three newest 1,800-ton submarines early last year due to problems with their component parts, according to a lawmaker.Rep. Song Young-sun of the minority Future Hope Alliance party told media that weak bolts used to fixate their upper bridges and decks were broken or loosened during their maritime operations on a number of occasions.For the first 1,

The North Korean military has around 30,000 electronic warfare specialists with capabilities rivaling those of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Fox News reported Tuesday, citing defectors and other sources.The U.S. broadcaster’s report titled “North Korea’s cyber army gets increasingly sophisticated,” came after a series of cyber attacks on key government and corporate websites in South Korea

The U.S. Navy is operating remote-control surveillance helicopters on missions over the Middle East, including Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The multipurpose Fire Scouts that spy on targets and mark them for attack are expanding the U.S. offensive capabilities without risking American casualties.“Whether pinpointing enemies, hunting pirates or tracking drug smugglers, the

A rocket-propelled grenade exploded in the air near a base for South Korea's aid workers and troops in Afghanistan on Sunday, but no casualties were reported, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.The grenade exploded outside the base in the city of Charika in northern Afghanistan at 10:40 p.m., the ministry said. The base has come under rocket attack eight times this year, raising concerns about t

A rocket fell early Saturday just outside an Afghanistan base where South Korean aid workers and troops are stationed, but there were no reports of injuries, Foreign Ministry officials said. The rocket landed about 200 meters away from the wall surrounding the base in Charikar City in the northern Afghan province of Parwan at around 12:45 a.m., according to them. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said tha

Women, disabled people oppose what they call ‘discriminatory’ systemControversy is growing over a system the Defense Ministry seeks to revive to give extra points in recruitment exams to those who have fulfilled their military duty, as women’s groups and disabled people continue their opposition.The ministry has been working to gain parliamentary approval for the system, contending that soldiers s

A former soldier who was sexually assaulted by his superior before being discharged has been acknowledged as a patriot of national merit due to lifetime compensation from the state. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said on Friday that the 23-year-old, surnamed Lee, discharged after being sexually abused by the chief of staff in his unit surnamed Oh, suffers post-traumatic stress disor

Twenty newly promoted general-grade officers from the U.S. are on a five-day tour to South Korea under an educational program aimed at enhancing understanding of its key Asian ally.Under the “Capstone” program organized by the U.S. National Defense University, the group, which arrived here Sunday, visited Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and was briefed on the security situation on the Korean Peninsu

When the U.S. intelligence caught Osama bin Laden, the first words that came out from the officer in command was “Geronimo EKIA.” Geronimo referred to the legendary Apache Indian who became a hero to Native Americans, and EKIA meant “Enemy killed in Action.”The U.S. has, historically, used codes that tended to summarize the character of the person, often reflecting how the government viewed the pe

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military's use of Geronimo as a code name for Osama bin Laden tarnished the achievement of the raid by insulting an American ethnic group, Native American tribal leaders and advocates told Congress on Thursday.Comparing the legendary Apache leader to a terrorist and enemy of the United States was deeply insulting and did real damage to Native Americans of all ages, said

Four artillery landed in and around a base in Afghanistan, where South Korean aid workers and troops are stationed, early on Thursday, but there were no injuries, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.“Four unidentified artillery rounds landed in and around the base at around 9:30 p.m., local time, but there were no injuries and no damage on our equipment and facilities,” said a JCS official, declining t

Reform measures aim to enhance efficiency and interoperabilityThe South Korean military is stepping up efforts to overhaul its top command structure in a bid to enhance efficiency of its peacetime and wartime operations, and interoperability among the three armed services.On Wednesday, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin reported to President Lee Myung-bak recent developments of the military’s reform en