South Korea's military reported 14 more COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the defense ministry said, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 1,943. Thirteen Army soldiers, including five trainees at a boot camp, and an Air Force airman tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to military data Wednesday morning. The five Army trainees from the boot camp in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, were found to have contracted the virus while in quarantine following the COVID-19 out

South Korea and the United States have agreed to consider establishing a new bilateral working-level defense dialogue aimed at promoting cooperation between their regional policy initiatives, an informed source said Wednesday. The US floated the idea of instituting the unofficial dialogue channel during the allies' biannual defense talks, called the Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue, last month, as Washington pushes to rally its regional democratic allies to counter China's growing assertive

The Navy has steadily scaled back exercises using live ammunition since President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017, a lawmaker said, amid concerns that Moon’s North Korea policy could affect combat readiness. Live ammunition was used 96 percent of the time in 2016, but the rate has since slowly fallen and hit 87 percent in 2020, according to Rep. Shin Won-sik of the main opposition People Power Party, citing data compiled by the Navy. The data was an average of the rates that live ammuni

Five more draftees at an Army boot camp just south of the inter-Korean border have tested positive for the new coronavirus after cluster infections were reported at their base, the defense ministry said Monday. The new cases raised the number of infections reported at the boot camp in the border county of Yeoncheon to 39. Four soldiers in the southeastern city of Busan and one in the eastern coastal town of Yangyang were also confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after virus cases were report

Twenty-two draftees at an Army boot camp just south of the inter-Korean border have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Friday. The newly enlisted soldiers at the boot camp of the Army's Fifth Division in the border county of Yeoncheon underwent coronavirus tests and were confirmed to have been infected, two days after a colleague was diagnosed with the virus, according to the ministry. All of them joined the military late last month, and only three of the 23 members received

Fifteen service members linked to the suicide of an Air Force master sergeant who claimed to have been sexually assaulted will be indicted, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday, ending a monthslong investigation. But the 10 suspects accused of botching the initial investigation or bullying the victim when she was relocated upon the incident will not stand trial, because little evidence was found to press charges, the ministry said. The suspects include military police, prosecutors an

Defense Mininstry reportedly mulling study on transgender military service

Thirteen people affiliated with US Forces Korea (USFK), including six service members, have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here, the US military said Thursday. Three service members, three family members and a civilian employee arrived here on commercial flights via Incheon international airport, west of Seoul, while three other troops arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of the capital, on US government chartered flights, according to USFK. T

DAEJEON-- A court ruled Thursday in favor of a deceased transgender solider in a suit filed to get the Army's decision to discharge her repealed, a landmark ruling that could have deep repercussions in the way South Korean society treats sexual minorities. The Daejeon District Court said that the military should have considered late Ssg. Byun Hee-soo as a woman when reviewing whether she was fit for military duty after a sex-change operation. "Since she applied for a sex change at a court

South Korea was to launch a new 5,600-ton-class submarine rescue vessel Thursday capable of conducting rescue operations in the deep sea regardless of weather conditions, the Navy said. A launch ceremony for the vessel, named Ganghwado, is scheduled to take place later in the day at the Okpo shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., on the southern island of Geoje, it added. Built under the ARS-II (auxiliary submarine rescue ship) project launched in 2015, it is the country

Twelve service members and two civilian workers for the military have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Thursday, the latest in a series of infections at barracks across South Korea. Ten Army members, two Navy officers, and the civilian employees were confirmed to have been infected either following their recent vacation or after coming into contact with individuals who had tested positive, according to the ministry. Of them, nine were "breakthrough infections,"

Eight service members and a civilian worker for the military have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Wednesday. Six Army members and two airmen, and the civilian employee for a unit affiliated with the ministry were confirmed to have been infected either after their recent vacation or developing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. All of them were confirmed to be "breakthrough infections," as they were fully vaccinated, the ministry added. The latest cases ra

A Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) officer and five Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The JCS officer, based in Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms, according to the ministry. No additional cases were reported from subsequent tests conducted on other members based on contact tracing, officials said. Separately, three Army officers and two enlistees were found to have contracted the virus during a

Amid the rising tension between the two Koreas due to NK’s hypersonic missile test earlier this week, the Defense Ministry held the 73rd Armed Forces Day Ceremony on Friday in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Pohang was the location where the United Nations forces made their first landing operation during the Korean War.  The photo above shows President Moon Jae-in on board the Marado, a high-tech landing platform helicopter ship. In his speech, President Moon emphasized the signif

Forty-six soldiers at an Army unit located just south of the inter-Korean border have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Saturday. Of the cases, 41, or 89 percent, were vaccine breakthrough infections. The report of the cluster infections in the border county of Yeoncheon came a day after one noncommissioned officer there tested positive upon returning from a vacation, according to the ministry. Subsequent tests on 184 other members of the unit confirmed 45 additional cas