The United States is considering using American military bases in South Korea as one of the housing sites for evacuees from Afghanistan, along with other overseas bases, including those in Japan, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The Pentagon is "looking at American bases in Japan, Korea, Germany, Kosovo, Bahrain and Italy" as existing housing sites in Qatar and elsewhere are filling up quickly, the paper reported Saturday (US time), citing unidentified officials. The report also

Revered independence fighter against Japan’s colonial rule laid to rest in Korea, 78 years after death in Kazakhstan

The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States will hold talks next week to discuss efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, the foreign ministry said Friday. Sung Kim, the US special representative for North Korea, will arrive in Seoul on Saturday for a four-day visit and will hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, on Monday, the ministry said in a release. It will mark his second trip to South Korea since taking office as the US nuclear envoy under the

The arms procurement agency said Friday it will set up an anti-hacking agency next year to help protect defense firms in the wake of a recent series of hacking attempts targeting them. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the envisioned organization, tentatively named Defense Industry Technology Management Institute, will focus on how to better protect defense technologies and prevent cyber attacks. The government also plans to set up an interministerial task force involv

Five service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 1,580, the defense ministry said Friday. An Army officer in Incheon, west of Seoul, and two soldiers, respectively based in Seoul and Yangju, just north of the capital, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after a vacation, while another officer in the eastern county of Hongcheon was found to have been infected after developing symptoms, according to the

An Army boot camp reported two more cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total caseload in the latest cluster infection there to 13, the defense ministry said Thursday. The two recruits at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan, 213 kilometers south of Seoul, were confirmed to have been infected, after the military conducted virus tests on all of the around 900 soldiers there following a cluster infection reported the previous day. Twelve of them are awaiting t

South Korea plans to invest 1.6 trillion ($1.37 billion) in the next 10 years to secure core technologies for satellite development in the defense sector, the arms procurement agency said Thursday. The plan is part of a series of measures aimed at upgrading the country's defense capabilities in the space sector, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The agency has launched a task force to focus on developing South Korea's space defense industry, saying that 16 trillion w

An American service member participating in an annual combined exercise with South Korea has tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said Thursday. The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) "confirms that one individual recently tested positive for COVID-19 while working in a combined headquarters location supporting CCPT," its spokesman Col. Lee Peters said in a statement. CCPT refers to the computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training, an annual exercise bet

South Korea will begin mass production of a newly upgraded interceptor missile, often dubbed the Korean equivalent of the US-made Patriot missile defense system, after successfully completing a number of quality tests, officials said Wednesday. Cheongung II, the upgraded version of the country's first locally-developed medium-range surface-to-air guided missile, accurately hit a missile and an aircraft target in firing tests conducted at the Anheung test site in the western city of Taean, in Ju

Eleven newly enlisted soldiers at an Army boot camp have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday, in yet another cluster infections reported at the country's largest training camp for new recruits. The soldiers at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after one of them first developed symptoms starting Monday, according to the ministry. The soldier who first showed symptoms joined the camp

South Korea will try to spend up to 80 percent of its defense budget for local sourcing under a "Buy Korea Defense" project aimed at boosting local industries and securing key technologies, officials said Wednesday. Under the project, set to be introduced this month, the country plans to spend 80 trillion won ($68.3 billion) out of 100 trillion won earmarked for defense capabilities improvement projects by 2026 on local research and development, production and other domestic procureme

The remains of Hong Beom-do, one of the most revered Korean independence fighters, were laid to rest at South Korea's national cemetery Wednesday, three days after being returned from Kazakhstan. An official ceremony for the reburial of his remains was held at Daejeon National Cemetery in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, following a public mourning period. President Moon Jae-in attended the ceremony, along with first lady Kim Jung-sook and other dignitaries, including Defense Minister S

Fourteen people affiliated with US Forces Korea (USFK), including five American service members, have tested positive for the new coronavirus in the past four days, the US military said Tuesday. The COVID-19 cases were reported from Osan Air Base and USArmy Garrison (USAG) Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, USAG Daegu in the southeastern city of the same name, and Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 km north of the capital, according to USFK. “All 14 individuals are curre

The military plans to deploy advanced amphibious bridging vehicles by 2027 to boost operational capabilities, the arms procurement agency said Tuesday. Under a 500 billion-won ($426.5 million) contract, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and Hanwha Defense will develop and produce the localized version of the European M3 Amphibious Rig for their deployment starting around 2027, according to the agency. The M3 rig was developed by the European manufacturer General Dynamics Eu

Seven service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday, the latest in a series of infections across the country. Five Army members, one Navy officer and one Marine Corps officer were confirmed to have contracted the virus during the three-day holiday that ended Monday, bringing the total caseload among the military population to 1,555, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)