South Korea and Australia on Monday agreed to revive a bilateral agreement on enhancing defense industrial cooperation after a 10-year gap, and finalized a multimillion-dollar weapons contract. The two countries signed a new memorandum of understanding on the defense industry and materials cooperation, South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Monday. “This provides an opportunity for Australia and South Korea to grow into each other’s strategic partner

High-profile international meetings attended by the South Korean president and diplomat this week are mainly aimed at countering China's influence, increasing the difficulty of Seoul’s diplomatic balancing act amid the growing US-China rivalry. South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday took part in a global democracy summit hosted by his US counterpart Joe Biden, and Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is set to join the meeting of G7 foreign ministers this week. The US President hoste

North Korea is operating its main plutonium-producing nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon complex, a Washington-based think tank revealed Wednesday, citing thermal infrared imagery. The CSIS Korea Chair said in a report it found the “clear and conclusive evidence” that the 5-megawatt reactor was operating based on thermal image analysis. The 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex is the core of Pyongyang’s proliferation efforts given that the reactor has been

South Korea has developed its first homegrown technology for early detection of chemical weapons attacks at long distances, the state-run weapons development agency announced Wednesday. The Agency for Defense Development said it had independently secured a “Hyperspectral Imaging Stand-off Chemical Agent Detection System,” which provides early warnings by monitoring and identifying the transmission of Chemical Warfare Agents or CWAs in contaminant plumes.  The new remote sensin

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged the military to improve its education system and nurture commanding officers with “absolute loyalty” to the ruling party, in a move in line with the regime’s ongoing ideological campaigns. According to the North’s state media on Tuesday, Kim made instructions at the Eighth Conference of Military Educationists of the Korean People’s Army, which was held at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang over the weekend. North Kore

North Korea was ranked 17th for its relative power among 26 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia’s Lowy Institute said in an annual report. The foreign policy think tank on Sunday released its 2021 Asia Power Index report, which comprehensively gauges the power of Asia-Pacific countries by using 131 indicators across eight thematic measures. The index assessed a wide range of country‘s capacities, including military and economic capabilities, diplomatic and cultural inf

Hackers with the backing of foreign governments will aggressively target information on Seoul’s national security strategies in the runup to the presidential election next March, the South Korean spy agency warned in its recent annual report. The National Cyber Security Center, under the auspices of the National Intelligence Service, last week released the annual report entailing cyber threat assessments and predictions, as well as its countermeasures. In the report, the NCSC predicted

South Korean and US defense chiefs on Thursday agreed to update war plans against Pyongyang’s growing missile and nuclear threats and to conduct a long-postponed assessment required for Seoul to regain wartime operational control, or OPCON, next fall. The announcement comes after South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hosted the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting the same morning in Seoul. Secretary Austin said Seoul and Washington discussed

The US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to defending South Korea and providing extended nuclear deterrence at an annual top-level military meeting. South Korea’s JCS Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and his US counterpart Gen. Mark Milley held the 46th Military Committee Meeting the same morning in Seoul, according to the JCS of each country. At the meeting, both sides reaffirmed the “enduring alliance” and shared the view

The US Defense Department on Monday called for enhanced cooperation with allies, including South Korea, to deter challenges posed by China and North Korea and to sustain stability in the Indo-Pacific region in its global posture review, or GPR. After a nearly 10-month review, the Joe Biden administration released its first GPR since taking office, although most details remain classified. The review shows the assessment of the US posture across major regions outside the US, such as overseas fo

North Korea policy is one of the main dividers between progressives and conservatives in South Korean politics, and the two leading presidential candidates -- Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl -- are poles apart on how to secure stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula. They also disagree on the fundamental causes of the current strained inter-Korean relations. But Yoon and Lee both dismiss the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons as an impractical option and endorse the idea of providin

South Korean and US defense ministers will discuss a wide range of security and alliance issues, from the transfer of wartime operational control to challenges posed by China and North Korea. South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are set to host the 53rd ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul on Thursday. The US high-ranking officers, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Commander of the United States Indo-Pacif

North Korea appears to have operated its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which can produce weapons-grade plutonium, and continued nuclear activities at Kangson and Pyongsan, a UN watchdog revealed Wednesday. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of International Atomic Energy Agency, said Wednesday the continuation of nuclear program is “a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and is deeply regrettable.” The IAEA identified “ongoing indications consis

Pyongyang “strongly” condemned the recent passage of the UN draft resolution on human rights violations in North Korea and reiterated its call for the UN to investigate the US for human rights abuses, state-run media reported Sunday. North Korea claimed that the US and other “hostile forces” forcibly adopted the draft resolution, in a press statement issued by an unnamed spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The press statement was released four days after t

The United Nations on Wednesday passed a draft resolution condemning North Korea‘s dire human rights situation by consensus, urging Pyongyang to cooperate with the international community in delivering and distributing COVID-19 vaccines in a timely manner. The resolution was introduced by the European Union and approved by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly for the 17th consecutive year since 2005. The resolution, which will be introduced at the upcoming UNGA plenary for fi