South Korea successfully fired off an Israeli precision-guided missile capable of striking North Korean coastal artillery on its Yellow Sea border islands last month, the Marine Corps said Friday, the first test-firing since their deployment on northwestern islands in May. The satellite-guided Spike missiles, which have a range of about 20 kilometers and weigh 70 kilograms, have been forward dep...

Japan has made clear its intention to not exercise its right to so-called collective self-defense on the Korea Peninsula without consent from Seoul, the foreign ministry here said Thursday. "A ranking security official from the Japanese government has informed us of (Japan's) position that Japanese military forces cannot be deployed to the Korean Peninsula by invoking the collective self-defense...

The South Korean military on Friday will determine the required operational capabilities for its restarted next-generation fighter procurement project, a move expected to make Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet the most likely candidate. During a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Council, top military officers will also decide on the number of warplanes to be purchased and the period of their operati...

The United States and Australia agreed Wednesday to enhance substantial military cooperation with South Korea in handling regional and global security problems. "The two countries committed to intensifying their collaboration with the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the promotion of stability on the Korean Peninsula," the allies said in a joint communique to sum up the results of the Australia-U.S. M...

South Korea has beefed up its forces on a group of northwestern islands along the tensely guarded maritime border with North Korea to counter provocations from its archrival, military officials said Wednesday. Following the North's shelling of a front-line island in 2010, Seoul has increased forces and firepower near the area to enhance strike capabilities, but some of the weapons systems were n...

South Korea should not cross off F-15 fighter jets from its shopping list aimed at boosting combat capability, a former top U.S. military commander in Korea said Tuesday. "In a real sense, a mix of F-35s and F-15s is the right decision," retired Gen. John Tilelli told reporters. His comments came amid media reports that South Korea will likely announce plans to buy 40 F-35s in the coming weeks....

The Defense Ministry plans to pick 11 civilians to work as members of its military contingent in the United Arab Emirates. The plan is part of efforts to create employment opportunities for retirees and other job seekers. It is also pushing a law that governs procedures to deploy troops and extend their dispatch, so as to quicken the domestic approval process for overseas activities including di...

Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said Tuesday he believes South Korea should increase its defense budget to 3 percent of gross domestic product, citing the country's "security realities." Chung made the remark during a parliamentary interpellation session after Rep. Kim Eul-dong of the ruling Saenuri Party accused the government of lacking commitment to national security as it did not set aside eno...

Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo told his Japanese counterpart Wednesday that Tokyo’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense should not have negative impacts on regional stability and peninsular security. Baek held bilateral talks with Japanese Vice Defense Minister Masanori Nishi on the sidelines of the Seoul Defense Dialogue, an international security forum hosted by Seoul’s Defe...

Seeking a new budget and vender for its next-generation fighter jet procurement program, South Korea may be offered lower prices of F-35s than Lockheed Martin originally proposed, a U.S. defense industry expert said Thursday. South Korea has delayed the selection of a winning bidder as it weighs the pros and cons of the F-35, Boeing's F-15SE and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Lockheed and Eurofighter...

The Defense Ministry will hold an annual forum next week to discuss ways to boost mutual trust and cooperation among Asia-Pacific militaries, organizers said Thursday. The three-day Seoul Defense Dialogue 2013 will kick off in Seoul on Monday with nuclear proliferation, cyber security and regional comprehensive security cooperation architecture as the main agenda. The SDD will bring together so...