The military on Tuesday began a pilot operation of a drone detection and jamming system to better respond to growing threats by small unmanned aerial vehicles, the arms procurement agency said. For the next six months, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force will operate the radar system capable of detecting drones as small as the size of a baseball within 8 kilometers of distance and incapacitating them with jammers when identified as an unauthorized vehicle, according to the Defense Acquisition

Most female victims of sexual violence in the military were soldiers and civilian workers of less than five years in service, government data showed. A majority of the perpetrators were non-commissioned officers senior to their victims, and field officers, showing how sexual violence that involves taking advantage of one’s superior status at work was prevalent. A total of 771 sexual offenses, ranging from harassment to rape, were committed against women in the military last year, accordi

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder specializing in submarine and other naval vessels, has suffered hacking attempts by unidentified entities, prompting the authorities to launch a probe, the arms procurement agency said Monday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) confirmed hacking attempts against the Daewoo database recently but declined to say if those attempts were successful and who appeared to be behind the attack. "Th

Defense Minister Suh Wook said Monday that South Korea will enhance its space defense capabilities and establish a system for combined operations to deal with growing space threats following the recent lifting of US curbs on the country's missile development. The minister made the remarks in a pre-released message for a forum in Seoul, also describing the lifting as having "great significance" that has opened a new horizon for the country's defense industry. After a summit with US Pr

Lawmakers try putting military under civilian oversight after yearslong pushback

Defense ministry investigators raided the offices of the Air Force's legal affairs department Wednesday over the suicide of a sexually harassed noncommissioned officer as part of a sprawling investigation into what led the victim to take her own life. The raid took place one day after the prosecutors grilled a military public defender accused of failing to provide adequate help to the master sergeant, surnamed Lee, who allegedly suffered groping and other abuse by her colleague during a car rid

Over half of the service members aged under 30 have been administered with their first doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine since the vaccination campaign for younger soldiers began last week, the defense ministry said Wednesday. A total of 223,614 troops in their 20s, or 54 percent of the age group, had received their first doses as of Tuesday, according to the ministry. Soldiers aged 30 and older were given AstraZeneca's vaccine, with about 88 percent, or 116,900 members agreeing to take th

An interim report on the suicide of an Air Force master sergeant who took her life after being sexually assaulted is coming out as early as next week, a senior official at the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday. The master sergeant died by suicide in late May after a complaint she filed in early March went unanswered. The Defense Ministry is leading a full investigation into her death and the alleged cover-ups. “Given everything going on, we could release an interim report on th

South Korea plans to deploy moving robots on guard missions and establish an artificial intelligence (AI)-based surveillance system in border areas to beef up border security, the arms procurement agency said Tuesday. Under the "rapid acquisition" project worth 2.8 billion won ($2.5 million), the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) decided to introduce the two items this year that employ state-of-the-art technologies. The robot is designed to move along a rail at a spee

Seven soldiers from the same Army base in the central city of Nonsan tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. They were confirmed to have been infected while being in isolation after coming into contact with a colleague who earlier tested positive, according to the ministry. "All of them tested negative in a test carried out upon their enlistment and have been quarantined at the same space. But one of them tested positive in a second test last week, and

Military prosecutors questioned 10 Air Force service members and officials in connection with the suicide of a sexually harassed noncommissioned officer amid suspicions they mishandled the sexual abuse case or attempted to hush it up, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The ministry also said that about 100 people at the two Air Force units, where the victim had worked, went through internal probes last week in an indication that more people would be formally called in for questioning. The fema

South Korea and the United States have staged a weeklong naval exercise focusing on combined diving and salvage operations, the Navy said Tuesday. The Salvage Exercise (SALVEX) Korea 2021 kicked off Wednesday last week in waters off Jinhae on the south coast and was to end Tuesday, bringing together 16 Korean sailors and 17 members of the US Mobile Diving & Salvage Unit, according to the Navy.  The exercise involves a range of underwater and ground missions such as search and recove

South Korea was to stage an annual military exercise around its easternmost islets of Dokdo on Tuesday after Japan protested the planned drill and called off an agreed-upon summit between the two countries. The drill, named the East Sea Territory Protection Exercise, will involve the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard, and be staged in a way that minimizes in-person contact given the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Navy. "As a regular joint exercise, the upcoming drill is aimed a

An Army soldier in his 20s has died six days after receiving his first dose of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, officials said Monday. The soldier, based in Seoul, was found unconscious in his barracks the previous day and transferred to a nearby hospital but died. It wasn't immediately clear if the death was directly related to the vaccine. An autopsy is planned to look into the exact cause of the death, officials said. It is the second death of a service member following COVID-19 vaccination.

South Korea plans to stage an annual military exercise on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo this week to beef up the country's defense capabilities, sources said Monday. The drill, named the East Sea Territory Protection Exercise, is scheduled to take place Tuesday, and will involve the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard, according to the government and military sources. The Marine Corps will not join this year's program, as no landing drill will take place, the sources said, add