Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
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Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
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North Korea holds drills simulating nuclear counterattack against enemy
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Korea, U.S. mulling new joint military operation body
South Korea and the U.S. are in talks to create a new joint military operation body to take over some key functions of a soon-to-be-dissolved joint military command, a high-ranking government source said Sunday.The South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command has served as a command structure for joint operation of military forces of the two allies since the 1950-53 Korean War.Both agreed to dissolve the CFC as South Korea plans to retake wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S. in 20
Aug. 5, 2012
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Korea to conduct defense drills near Dokdo
South Korea will conduct military exercises in waters near the easternmost islets of Dokdo later this month to strengthen its defense amid Japan’s renewed territorial claims, a military official said Thursday.The biannual exercise comes at a time when diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo rose after Japan reiterated its claim to Dokdo in its latest defense white paper, which drew strong protest from Seoul.The last drill was held in February. Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the E
Aug. 2, 2012
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Seoul and Beijing to set up defense hotline
The defense ministries of South Korea and China will establish a hotline communications channel, the Ministry of National Defense announced Tuesday. The nations also signed a memorandum of understanding to increase exchange between their militaries during the second strategic defense talks held in Beijing. The MOU includes clauses regarding working-level talks between defense policy specialists, cooperative search and rescue missions, and overseas humanitarian missions, the Defense Ministry said
July 31, 2012
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BAE picked for fighter jet upgrade
South Korea has selected British defense firm BAE Systems Inc. for a 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) project to upgrade the country’s aging KF-16 fighter jets, the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday.The multi-year project calls for upgrading a total of 134 KF-16 fighters by improving mission computers and operating systems with the latest versions and by replacing current radars with active electronically scanned array, also known as AESA, to double the detection range by 2021, according
July 31, 2012
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U.S. reaffirms wartime command transfer plans
The U.S. secretary of defense confirmed that the U.S. is set on handing over the wartime operational control to South Korea as scheduled in 2015, despite the Center of Strategic and International Studies’ recommendations to the contrary.The report submitted by the Washington-based bipartisan think tank to the Congress last week suggested that the wartime operational control handover and the fate of the Combined Forces Command should be decided after related issues have been thoroughly assessed.
July 29, 2012
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Defectors wish to fulfill military duty: report
A report on South Korean defense policies showed that North Korean defectors wish to serve their military service in the South, which is banned under the military law. The quarterly report of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a state-funded defense think tank, said that seven out of eight North Koreans who fled the reclusive state between 2003 and 2010 want to enlist in the army. “I feel left out when thinking that the South Korean government does not trust the defectors although they sa
July 29, 2012
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Military faces shortage of sergeants
The military is facing personnel shortages in 19 of the 65 fields to be staffed by type-two specialist sergeants, data showed Tuesday. Type-two specialist sergeants are selected before the start of national service, and those selected serve an additional 15 months as sergeants after the end of the mandatory term. The system, along with that for type-one specialty sergeants, was introduced in 2008 to compensate for the personnel shortages caused by the shortening of the duration of the national s
July 24, 2012
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Korea, U.S. to conduct annual Ulchi exercise
Combined Forces Command will hold the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise from Aug. 20-31.“Ulchi Freedom Guardian is a key exercise to strengthen the readiness of Republic of Korea and U.S. forces,” Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the Combined Forces Command, was quoted as saying in a statement. “It is based on realistic scenarios and enables us to train our essential tasks with the whole government.”In this year’s exercise, about 30,000 U.S. personnel, including 3,000 troops based outsid
July 23, 2012
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Air shows brighten T-50 prospects
Performances by Black Eagles aerobatics team boost interest in trainer jetKorea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, is in talks with numerous countries to export its advanced trainer jet T-50, the company’s CEO Kim Hong-kyung said.Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow last week, Kim said that the company was in talks with five or six countries that have shown interest in the jet. The Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. is one of the world’s three largest aerospace industry shows,
July 19, 2012
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S. Korea approves bid proposals for three fighter jets
South Korea's arms procurement agency said Tuesday it has approved bid proposals by three foreign defense companies for a multi-million dollar fighter jet project and will start flight tests from next week.The F-15 Silent Eagle by U.S. firm Boeing, the F-35A by another American company Lockheed Martin, and the Eurofighter by Europe-based multinational defense group EADS are in the running to win t
July 17, 2012
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S. Korean military develops smartphone apps
The South Korean military said Sunday it would introduce smartphone applications to enhance operational capabilities.The military developed nine applications, and is planning to prepare security tools for them by the end of this year before deciding which ranks will get the smartphones.According to the military, the applications were developed by a contractor under the program for establishing a pilot system for using smartphones for military purposes. The applications are to be distributed to s
July 15, 2012
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S. Korea faces strategic choices amid growing Sino-U.S. rivalry
This is the last in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Amid an intensifying contest for primacy between the U.S. and China, policymakers in Seoul are agonizing over what strategic choices should serve the best interests of South Korea.Washington is deepening its engagement in the strategically important and economically vibrant Asia-Pacific. Apparently seeking to keep a rising China in c
July 12, 2012
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Korea mulls partial troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
South Korea is considering withdrawing at least some of its troops protecting aid workers in Afghanistan starting as early as next year, government officials said Thursday.One official said the mission for the unit, called “Ashena,”will be over at the end of this year, and other nations are also set to withdraw their forces from the war-ravaged country.“We’re looking into ways to pull out Ashena forces over several phases,” the official said.Another government official said some troops will stil
July 12, 2012
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Environment, crimes strain U.S. alliance with Korea, Japan
Environmental degradation, and accidents and crimes involving American troops have long been sources of friction in U.S. alliances with South Korea and Japan.Last year, allegations that U.S. soldiers dumped toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange at their bases in Korea decades ago sparked public furor and prompted calls for an environmental inspection of the installations suspected of contamination. A joint U.S.-South Korean investigation subsequently failed to find toxic substances at levels dang
July 12, 2012
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[Michael Raska] China’s strategy puts U.S. in dilemma on Korean Peninsula
China’s strategic imprint, whether direct or indirect, has been increasingly tied to the security and stability of the Korean Peninsula. With China’s ongoing military transformation and its growing capabilities, however, Beijing will have increasingly greater leverage and options to shape the direction and outcomes of potential crisis scenarios on the Korean Peninsula, on China’s terms.For over a decade, China’s geopolitical and economic rise has given its diplomacy more leverage in managing ten
July 12, 2012
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Sleeker USFK adapts to shifting region
American troops focus on deterring Pyongyang, countering potential threats from ChinaThis is the fourth in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Combat-oriented Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, is striving to strengthen his troops’ war-fighting capabilities to better deal with North Korea’s continuing browbeating.The battle-experienced general has recently asked Wa
July 11, 2012
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USFK: Cornerstone of peninsular, regional security
Troop number reduced amid changes in security environment, U.S. military strategyAs the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. Forces Korea have undergone adjustments in scale, deployment and strategies in line with changing regional and global security environment for the past 60 years.U.S. troops first entered the Korean Peninsula in September 1945, less than a month after Korea was liberated on Aug. 15 from Japan’s 36-year colonial rule. Their mission was to disa
July 11, 2012
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Environmentalists challenge base relocation in Okinawa
Some residents and environmentalists in Okinawa, Japan, have long argued that the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Camp Schwab in Nago of the same prefecture would endanger the dugong, a marine mammal regarded as vulnerable to extinction.Since the two allies agreed to move the air base to a site near Henoko Bay in 2006, opponents have called on the Tokyo government to cancel the plan, saying that the extensive land reclamation work for the relocation could jeopardize th
July 10, 2012
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U.S.-Japan alliance grows for Asia-Pacific security balance
Japan’s military buildup to play crucial role in countering ChinaThis is the third in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Japan is more aggressively pushing to become a “normal state” with a full-fledged military as China increasingly flexes its naval might and North Korea tests its patience with missile and nuclear tests.Japan’s increasing assertiveness comes as the U.S. is deepening its
July 8, 2012
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History of U.S.-Japan alliance
The U.S. military first entered Japan to demilitarize and occupy it shortly after the end of World War II in August 1945. America moved its Southwest Pacific Command from Australia to Zama near Tokyo and renamed it the Far East Command. It was then led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.In 1947, Japan’s postwar constitution, drafted by U.S. officials, was approved by the parliament. Its “pacifist” Article 9 states that the country renounces the use of war, and that any military forces as well as potentia
July 8, 2012