The Navy was to hold a launching ceremony Wednesday for a new 2,800-ton frigate with improved anti-submarine capabilities. The new warship Pohang is the sixth of the country's FFX Batch II frigates to replace the Navy's 1,500-ton frigates and 1,000-ton patrol combat corvettes, according to the military. The ceremony was to be held at its manufacturer Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.'s Okpo shipyard on the southern island of Geoje, with the attendance of Joint Chiefs of Staff C

South Korea has become the first non-nuclear state to develop a submarine-launched ballistic missile, having run a test-firing from a newly built submarine, sources said Tuesday. SLBMs have been developed by seven countries -- China, France, India, North Korea, Russia, the UK and the US -- all of which have nuclear weapons. A Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine, the country’s first 3,000-ton underwater vessel revealed last month, carried out the underwater ejection tests last week after similar

An Air Force officer and two Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 1,644, the defense ministry said Tuesday. An Air Force officer in the central city of Cheonan was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after coming into contact with a person who tested positive earlier, while an Army officer in Yangju, north of Seoul, was found to have been infected after a family member tested positive, according to th

The defense ministry on Monday eased monthslong restrictions on service members' vacation and off-installation activities as the military has a high COVID-19 vaccination rate of about 94 percent, officials said. Under the fresh regulations effective on Monday, up to 20 percent of service members can go on vacation at the same time per unit, and fully vaccinated troops are allowed to meet visitors who have also received vaccines, according to the ministry. Previous regulations had banned soldie

The arms procurement agency has allocated 1.485 trillion won ($1.3 billion) for defense technology research and development (R&D) next year in a budget request submitted to the parliament, it said Monday. Last week, the defense ministry requested a defense budget of 55.23 trillion won for 2022, up from this year's 52.84 trillion won. Of the total, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's R&D budget rose 76 percent on-year to surpass the 1 trillion won mark for the first time, i

The military is resuming its search for the remains of Korean and UN soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday. The first search, from April 2019 to June 2021 near Arrowhead Hills inside the Demilitarized Zone, uncovered the remains of 424 people. It is expected that a similar number will be found at the second site to be searched, near White Horse Hills next to Arrowhead Hills. It is estimated that 1,000 soldiers died there in one of the war&rsqu

The military said Thursday it will pursue a homegrown missile defense system and a greater strike capability as part of a 315 trillion-won ($271 billion), five-year plan starting next year. About 106 trillion won goes to bolstering defense capabilities to build weapons, such as anti-missile systems and ballistic missiles, while the rest is set aside to cover operating costs. “We will have ironclad defense against North Korean fire targeting Seoul and the surrounding areas,” the Mi

South Korea has been developing a massive ballistic missile as powerful as a tactical nuclear weapon, sources said Thursday, after the full lifting of US-imposed restrictions on missile development. The surface-to-surface missile, which can carry a warhead of up to 3 tons with a flight range of 350-400 kilometers, is in the last stage of development and the timing of its deployment will be determined after several test-firings, according to the sources. Unveiling its defense blueprint for 2022

US Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Paul LaCamera has said that the latest joint exercise between South Korea and the United States served as a chance to display readiness and strengthen the bilateral alliance, but the two sides need to and can "achieve more." The commander, who also leads the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command, made the comments in a message sent to the Korea-US Alliance Foundation after wrapping up the joint summertime exercise.

An Air Force officer has tested positive for the new coronavirus after taking part in a mission to evacuate Afghan people from the war-torn nation last month, officials said Wednesday. The officer, based in the southeastern city of Busan, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms while in quarantine, according to the defense ministry. South Korea carried out an emergency operation last week mobilizing military aircraft to evacuate those who worked at its embassy in K

The new defense cost-sharing agreement between South Korea and the United States took effect Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, a day after the National Assembly ratified the deal on sharing the cost for the upkeep of American troops here. After Tuesday's parliamentary ratification, the two countries notified each other that all domestic procedures necessary for the agreement to go into effect have been completed, bringing the deal officially into force, the ministry said. The pact, known a

The military is spending drastically more on soldier welfare in its budget for next year by providing better meals, pay and terms for soldiers’ savings, the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday in its proposal that links most of the 55.2 trillion won ($47.5 billion) spending to maintenance. Soldiers, who take part in mandatory military service that lasts as long as 21 months, make up more than half the country’s 550,000-strong military. The National Assembly will start looking

Thirty-six American soldiers and four affiliated individuals have tested positive for the new coronavirus, including those from a cluster infection at the Osan base, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday. Eighteen service members and one family member stationed at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive Thursday and Friday, either after developing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or after coming into contact with colleagues who tested positive earlier,

South Korea and the United States launched a joint project Tuesday to recover the remains of troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War at a former battle site near the inter-Korean border, the defense ministry said. Around 60 South Korean military personnel and 10 from the US' Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) began the joint excavation work on Mount Baekseok in the northeastern county of Yanggu, which will continue through Sept. 16, according to the ministry. As one of the key strate

South Korean government agencies agreed Monday on the need to extend its peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and South Sudan, the foreign ministry said. Officials from the foreign, defense, finance and interior ministries as well as the military and police participated in a virtual consultative meeting to discuss extending the presence of the Dongmyeong Unit in Lebanon and the Hanbit Unit in South Sudan, the ministry said.  In the meeting led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon,