The recovery project to return the remains of fallen heroes of the Korean War to their bereaved families is a race against time, as the war generation is aging, the chief of the division in charge of DNA analysis at the Defense Ministry told The Korea Herald.While South Korea is actively carrying out work across the country to recover war remains -- recently expanding the area up to the Demilitarized Zone bordering North Korea -- identifying and returning remains to families continues to make sl

CHEORWON, Gangwon Province -- A helmet with six bullet holes, a canteen pierced 23 times and a rifle with a round of ammunition left in the chamber. On Tuesday, those traces of the Korean War were found just where the war had left them, on the untouched highland of Arrowhead Ridge inside the Demilitarized Zone.The scene is where more than 300 young South Korean, French and American soldiers died fighting the North Korean and Chinese forces. The other side is believed to have lost some 3,000 sold

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Wednesday the recent missile launches by North Korea were a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions, contradicting US President Donald Trump. North Korea launched multiple projectiles on May 4 and 9 -- of which the latter involved what were officially identified as short-range missiles -- in what is seen as a protest over the deadlock in nuclear talks with the US. While Trump played down the launches, his officials have been making contradic

A Panama-flagged vessel suspected of carrying North Korean coal appeared Tuesday to be returning to Indonesia, from where it had departed, after being refused port entry and drifting in the sea for over a month.Citing a ship tracking site, Voice of America Korea reported that the bulk carrier, Dong Thanh, started to move again after staying on the southernmost waters off Malaysia for about three weeks. As of Tuesday, the vessel is 242 kilometers from the Port of Jakarta in Indonesia, according t

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau will host its annual roadshow in June for travel agencies of South Korea and Sri Lanka to exchange latest industry information.The event will take place at Lotte Hotel in Busan on June 4 and Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul on June 10.  According to the tourism bureau, 10 Sri Lankan tour and resort companies will participate, and the event will provide opportunities for Korean and Sri Lankan travel agencies to hold business-to-business meetings.The bureau

Regional government officials and experts gathered to discuss child-friendly urban planning at a forum organized by UNICEF Korea on Friday. A consultative group of regional governments held the forum with the UNICEF Korea Committee at a children’s culture center theater in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Opening the forum, Tim Gill, a UK-based children’s rights specialist, explained that creating a child-friendly city starts from understanding how children view cities. He stressed that

The chief of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Hwang Kyo-ahn criticized the liberal government’s conciliatory policy toward North Korea on Thursday, claiming it making the military “brain-dead.”“Even when politicians speak of peace, the military should prevent weakening of its defense posture,” Hwang said in the party’s supreme council meeting held in Goseong, Gangwon Province.  As part of a political campaign promoting people’s livelihood, t

Gen. Robert Abrams, the top commander of the combined forces here, said the recent launches of short-range missiles by North Korea were part of routine military exercises and that the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has not changed. During a symposium in Honolulu on Wednesday, Abrams said joint military exercises between South Korea and the US were suspended in consideration of diplomatic efforts made by the two governments with North Korea. Abrams serves as the commander of the Unite

Although the United States has played down recent launches of short-range missiles by North Korea, it will seek substantive action if the communist regime fires again.A Japanese news outlet reported late Tuesday that the US has warned that if North Korea launches a short-range ballistic missile again, it will demand further measures to be taken by the United Nations Security Council.According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, the US told Japan and permanent members of the UNSC that it will &ld

While Seoul’s relationships with Tokyo and Beijing are frayed as a result of military disputes over the past few months, military talks are set to resume in hopes of resolving the outstanding issues. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it is cooperating separately with both neighboring countries to arrange bilateral talks between Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts during the 2019 Shangri-La Dialogue slated to run May 31 to June 2 in Singapore

Just hours before South Korean President Moon Jae-in was set to appear in his first televised interview with a local broadcaster on May 9 marking his second anniversary of presidency, North Korea fired two short-range missiles.The surprising move came less than a week after it launched multiple projectiles into the East Sea on May 4.During what could have been a celebratory interview looking back on his past two years, Moon warned the North that such military actions would only heighten tensions

Seoul and Washington are discussing the relocation of their combined forces command, the commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, Gen. Robert Abrams, said in a statement Thursday, following media reports that he had suggested relocating the command’s headquarters in Yongsan to the United States Forces Korea’s Pyeongtaek base.  ROK-US Combined Forces Command in Yongsan, Seoul (Yonhap)“At the appropriate future time, ROK and US government leadership will announce an alliance decision on th

US military reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Seoul metropolitan area Tuesday, in a move that appears aimed at reinforcing surveillance activities over the Korean Peninsula following North Korea’s recent projectile launches. According to Aircraft Spots, an aviation tracker site, the US Air Force’s RC-135W reconnaissance aircraft flew over Seoul and Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday. The reconnaissance aircraft also patrolled over South Korea on May 8, a day before Pyongyang fired two projectiles

Upon receiving a letter from the Military Manpower Administration summoning him for his mandatory medical exam, Choi Seong-ryong, who had just turned 19, was both excited and worried. It signaled that he was now an adult with the responsibility to serve in the military.Technically still at war with North Korea, South Korea maintains a draft system that requires almost all able-bodied male citizens aged 19 to 36 to serve in the military for about two years. A mother and son get blood drawn at the

Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Monday that it was reinforcing its missile defense system, while maintaining that further analysis is needed to determine whether the short-range missiles fired by North Korea last week were ballistic missiles. Since North Korea fired multiple projectiles into the East Sea on May 4 and again Thursday, the South Korean government has delayed revealing the types of projectiles that were launched. The Defense Ministry confirmed that Thursday’s incident involved two sho