Gen. Paul LaCamera is expected to take office as the new commander of the US Forces Korea (USFK) around next month if his confirmation process goes smoothly, sources said Thursday. LaCamera, who currently serves as Army Pacific Commander, was nominated to succeed Gen. Robert Abrams to lead the 28,500-strong USFK, and his nomination was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee late last month for a confirmation hearing, according to the sources. "The exact schedule for the hearing i

Outgoing US Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Robert Abrams will receive a Korean name as a gift from a South Korea-US friendship group during his farewell event next week, organizers said Thursday. The Republic of Korea-US Alliance Friendship Association will present the name, Woo Byung-soo, to the four-star general for "his contributions to the alliance and defense of South Korea" at the event scheduled for next Thursday, according to the group. The first name, Byung-soo, is made

Seven soldiers at an Army base in Yangju, just north of Seoul, have tested positive for the new coronavirus in another cluster infection reported in barracks, the defense ministry said Tuesday. One of the soldiers first tested positive upon returning from vacation after a family member was found to have contracted COVID-19, according to the ministry. In subsequent tests conducted on 50 people who had direct contact with the soldier, six tested positive, while 12 are awaiting their results. The

The military is closely monitoring North Korea but no unusual signs have been detected so far, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday, after Pyongyang warned of "crisis beyond control" and "corresponding action" in a series of statements slamming Seoul and Washington. On Sunday, the North denounced US President Joe Biden for making the "big blunder" of calling its nuclear program a serious threat and criticized Seoul for failing to stop defectors from flying

South Korea was to hold a launching ceremony Monday for a new 2,800-ton frigate with improved anti-submarine capabilities, the Navy said. The new warship Daejeon is the fifth 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 Chief o

The defense ministry on Monday extended the current social distancing rules for the military for three weeks, which allow service members to take vacation in a limited manner. The Level 2 scheme, which was supposed to expire Sunday, will be in place until May 23 in line with the government's COVID-19 guidance, according to the ministry. It is the third-highest level in the five-tier alert system. Under the scheme, troops are allowed to go on vacation while strictly adhering to antivirus measur

A Korean Augmentation to the US Army (KATUSA) soldier has tested positive for the new coronavirus after receiving a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine shot, officials said. The soldier, stationed at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 on Thursday upon returning to duty from leave. The soldier reportedly received the single-dose Janssen vaccine in early April. The service member last visited Camp Casey on Wednesday and is cur

The South Korean, US and Japanese military chiefs on Thursday discussed deepening security cooperation amid a growing threat from North Korea to promote peace and stability in the region, at their first in-person three-way talks in Hawaii since the COVID-19 outbreak in January a year earlier. The talks, held on the sidelines of a change-of-command ceremony at the US Indo-Pacific Command, opened as the US seeks to establish what it calls a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific regi

The US missile defense agency conducted two missile flight tests last year to integrate its Patriot and THAAD missile systems, but they were unsuccessful due to software problems, a US government report has showed. The US is working to upgrade its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries around the world, including one in South Korea, to add advanced radar and to integrate the system with Patriot missiles. According to the report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), t

Three soldiers and an airman tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday, the latest in a series of infections at barracks across the nation. The four service members, all from different units, were confirmed to have been infected following their recent vacation, bringing the total number of infections among the military population to 784, according to the ministry. Nationwide, South Korea reported 661 more COVID-19 cases, including 642 local infections, raising t

South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission said Thursday that it will launch an investigation into allegations that the military violated rights of conscripts who said they had been fed poorly and denied access to bathrooms because of the COVID-19 response. The previous week, an Army conscript prompted public outcry when he revealed on Facebook that he had been given insufficient meals while in quarantine, showing a picture of what appeared to be a nearly empty tray. The militar

The military reported three additional coronavirus cases, the defense ministry said Thursday. Of them, a service member of the armed forces athletic corps in the central city of Mungyeong was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after participating in an international competition abroad, while a soldier in the northeastern county of Inje tested positive after newly joining the Army, according to the ministry. In Yangju, north of Seoul, an officer was found to be infected after a family member

US Forces Korea (USFK) will resume the administration of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine to its members this week, the US military has said, after a two-week suspension of its use amid concerns over blood clot cases. The decision to resume the use of J&J's Janssen vaccine Friday was based on the joint recommendation of the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control to end the temporary pause of the COVID-19 vaccine use for all persons aged 18 and older,

Defense Minister Suh Wook said Wednesday that the ballistic missiles North Korea test-fired last month flew about 600 kilometers, revising the military’s initial assessment. 　After the North‘s March 25 test-firing of two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, the military said their flight range was 450 km. North Korean state media has claimed that the missiles flew 600 km. 　“We believe that they flew about 600 km,” Suh said in a parliamentary session when

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Nam Yeong-shin apologized Wednesday over criticism that a boot camp and some other units enforced excessive anti-coronavirus rules in violation of human rights, such as restricting bathroom access. Nam offered the apology after convening an emergency meeting of senior commanders and ordered them to review the Army's health protection rules from scratch and come up with measures to prevent violating soldiers' rights in the course of its fight against COVID-19. "At