Army Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, the deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), was named to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the defense ministry said Wednesday, in the first reshuffle of top military officers since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The shake-up was announced hours after North Korea's launches of three ballistic missiles into the East Sea. Lt. Gen. Park Jeong-hwan, the vice JCS chief, was named the new Army chief of staff while Lt.

Multiple Russian and Chinese warplanes entered South Korea's air defense identification zone (KADIZ) without notice on Tuesday, prompting the Air Force to scramble fighters to the scene, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.    The JCS said that two Chinese and four Russian warplanes entered the KADIZ, but did not violate South Korea's territorial air.    "Prior to their entry into the KADIZ, our military deployed Air Force fighters to conduct tactical steps in pr

Defense Ministry promises to expeditiously deliver additional nonlethal aid, but remains cautious about providing weapons

South Korea has introduced breathing sensors in a new military prison to help prevent suicides, an informed source said Tuesday, in the first installation of such equipment at a local correctional facility. The military installed the domestically developed sensor in about 50 cells, including solitary confinement rooms, at the prison in Icheon, 80 kilometers south of Seoul. It is to officially open next month. The sensors are designed to monitor inmates' breathing in real time and programmed

South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul has attended a virtual session of a US-led forum on support for war-torn Ukraine, his ministry said Tuesday. Hosted by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Monday's session of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group involved officials from some 40 countries. Participants discussed the situation in Ukraine and joint efforts to aid the nation, according to the ministry. Shin strongly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an "act

Seoul will push for “more detailed and substantive” measures to strengthen US extended deterrence

South Korea will resume an annual field training program for its reserve forces in a scaled-back manner next month after two years of suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state military recruitment agency said Monday. Starting June 20, some 500,000 reservists will be called upon to complete the program, consisting of field drills and an online session lasting eight hours each, according to the Military Manpower Administration. In the pre-pandemic era, most reservists were required to

Hanwha Systems Co., the defense and ICT unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Monday it has partnered with an Italian defense company to cooperate on the export of an advanced radar system as it eyes to further expand its overseas foothold. The memorandum of understanding signed with Leonardo S.p.A. commits the two firms to work on developing an integrated solution that combines Hanwha's active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar antenna devices with Leonardo's signal proces

The leaders of South Korea and the United States on Saturday agreed to step up combined military exercises against North Korea’s mounting threats and reinforce the US’ extended deterrence. During their first summit, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden discussed ways to strengthen their combined defense posture at a juncture when North Korea has continued pursuing the development of nuclear weapons and missiles.  "President Yoon and I committed

The US military has flown a reconnaissance plane toward the East Sea, an aviation tracker said Thursday, amid concerns about the possibility of another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch by North Korea. In a Twitter post, Aircraft Spots released an image showing an RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft en route to the East Sea. It said the flight was to "monitor the North Korean missile launch window." The previous day, Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy chief of South Korea's pres

US President Joe Biden may visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas during his trip here later this week, as the allies are in consultations on his specific itinerary, informed sources said Tuesday. Biden is set to arrive in Seoul on Friday, the eve of his first summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol. The DMZ, the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, is among the key sites that Biden could visit during his three-day stay, according to the sources. The visit to the DMZ, if real

South Korea has identified the remains of a South Korean soldier killed during the 1950-53 Korean War after their excavation from a battle site a decade ago, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The ministry's excavation team found the remains of Pfc. Kim Jong-sul in Pohang, 374 kilometers south of Seoul, in 2012. They were identified as his thanks to a DNA sample that his son had registered with the government. Born in Gimcheon, 234 kilometers south of Seoul, in 1926, Kim served in the Army&

South Korea has signed a contract worth 170 billion won ($132.8 million) with a US aerospace firm, Bell Textron Asia, to purchase some 40 trainer helicopters by 2025, the state arms procurement agency said Monday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) inked the deal with the firm on May 6 to procure the Bell 505 helicopters and eight simulators to train Army and Navy pilots, its officials said. The simulators are to be manufactured by a Korean firm. The South Korean military plan

South Korea's military plans to revive the reference to North Korean ballistic missile tests as "provocations," informed sources said Thursday in an apparent reflection of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's hard-line stance on the recalcitrant regime's military threats. The Joint Chiefs of Staff has decided to use the expression in its public announcements of future North Korean missile launches in line with new Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup's directive, according to the sources. The p

The United States and South Korea share a common objective of completely denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and will continue to coordinate closely on ways to achieve that goal, a state department spokesperson said Tuesday. State Department Press Secretary Ned Price made the remarks after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said his government will help revive North Korea's economy if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear ambition. "We have been and we will continue to coordinate closely with th