Foreign defense attaches based in South Korea are visiting military facilities as part of a three-day program designed to boost their understanding of the country’s security situation, the Defense Ministry said Monday.During the program organized by the Defense Intelligence Agency, 50 defense attaches and their spouses from 25 countries are scheduled to visit the Navy’s Third Fleet headquarters, the Air Force’s 20th Fighter Wing, and the Army’s armor school located in Sou

Kim Myong-gil, who recently released a statement confirming that he is the head of the North Korean delegation for the envisioned working-level negotiations with the United States, is known to be a US expert. Having participated in various levels of nuclear weapons negotiations with the US since the 1990s, Kim may be able to bring about a more productive outcome for North Korea in the upcoming denuclearization negotiations, experts here say. Amid speculations that Kim would be the counterpart of

United States Forces Korea said Wednesday that it is committed to the plan to return its bases to South Korea, following Seoul’s announcement seeking the prompt return of 26 US bases.In a statement, USFK said some of its military installations had already been cleared out for return.  “Fifteen of the 26 US military installations, including four sites specifically requested for transfer at the earliest possible date … have been vacated, closed and available for transfer to

The inter-Korean military agreement that was hailed as a “nonaggression pact” when it was signed just a year ago has become a “merely nominal” agreement as its first anniversary approaches Thursday.The defense chiefs of the two Koreas signed the Comprehensive Military Agreement on Sept. 19, 2018, in Pyongyang on the sidelines of the third summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.  It was not the first bilateral military ag

North Korea said Wednesday it test-fired its “super-large multiple rocket launcher” the previous day, however there is speculation in Seoul that one of the projectiles failed to reach its target in the sea. The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong-un guided the weapons test. It is the second test of the super-large multiple rocket launcher after Aug. 24, and the 10th launch of projectiles conducted by the regime this year.“The Supreme Leader l

North Korea on Tuesday fired two short-range projectiles from its northwestern area toward the East Sea, its 10th launch this year, South Korea’s military said. According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pyongyang fired the projectiles from Kaechon, South Pyongan Province, at 6:53 a.m. and 7:12 a.m., with one of the projectiles flying 330 kilometers east. The JCS did not provide further details such as the altitude and speed of the projectiles launched, saying it is analyzing the in

On the last day of July, the decomposing bodies of a mother in her 40s and her 6-year-old son were found in their apartment in Seoul, their deaths apparently due to starvation. The case would be shocking on its own, but the impact of the news was compounded when it was revealed that the mother was a North Korean who had fled the North for a better life in the South.As questions piled up as to how the defector and her young son died of hunger in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a

South Korea’s Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Thursday the nation would continue to work with patience to build trust with North Korea for lasting peace, urging multilateral cooperation.Speaking at the 2019 Seoul Defense Dialogue, he appeared to touch on the recent feud with Japan, raising concerns that the competition between countries is intensifying due to their own national interests. The SDD is an annual multilateral consultative forum hosted by South Korea’s Ministry of

The United States successfully tested the capability of its anti-missile system, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles in an apparent move to keep North Korea in check. The test was carried out from the US Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands on Friday, according to the US Missile Defense Agency. “Preliminary indications are that planned flight test objectives were achieved and the target was successfully i

North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons, and it would be more effective to seek normalization of relations with the regime, an expert at US-based think tank said Tuesday.John Mueller, a senior fellow at Cato Institute and a political scientist at Ohio State University, also criticized the United States as the cause of friction on the Korea Peninsula due to its “atomic obsession.”  “It doesn’t matter whether North has nuclear weapons or not. There is a good c

As North Korea was to hold the second meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament Thursday, eyes are on what message or policy changes the regime may announce at the event.North Korea’s state-run media outlets reported that Pyongyang was to hold a plenary meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, the second such meeting this year, following the first held in April. According to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, SPA members paid their respects at statues of

Seoul’s Defense Ministry maintained Thursday that it was closely working with the United States, following the remarks by US defense leaders expressing disappointment over South Korea’s decision to withdraw from an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.The United States has been vocally critical of South Korea’s decision to terminate the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan. “As we have told you before, defense minister and the US Secretary of

The Korea Herald Young Diplomats Academy and the Young Opinion Leaders’ Knowledge Forum -- youth camps tailored for interaction with foreign diplomats, business leaders and renowned scholars -- have inspired future generations of leaders. The event at Yonsei International Campus in Songdo, Incheon, from Aug. 2 to 4 attracted over 200 elementary, middle and high school students, providing a platform for differentiated learning, discussion and communication in English. For the annual event,

South Korea already faces a turbulent security situation, with North Korea firing off missiles and relations with Japan at its lowest point. Now, the South’s closest ally is pressuring the government to pay more money for its troops stationed here. Ever since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, the United States has maintained troops in South Korea to defend its ally and to keep China and Russia in check.With negotiations on cost-sharing for US troops here set to begin next month

North Korea on Sunday boasted the successful test-firing of what it called a “newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher,” a day after it fired two projectiles into the East Sea. Releasing pictures of the new weapon system, the state-run daily Rodong Sinmun said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un highly praised the new system after overseeing the test-firing.“The test-fire proved that all the tactical and technological specifications of the system correctly reached the p