US Army chief Gen. James McConville said Tuesday he does not see South Korea and the United States returning soon to their full-scale joint military exercises, amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We think those (larger exercises) are very, very important. But COVID-19 introduced a kind of a new fog and friction. That just makes these exercises a little more difficult,” McConville told a teleconference hosted by Defense News. South Korea and the US scaled down their annual drills in Aug

North Korea’s program to develop new strategic weapons is nearing the production stage, a Seoul-based North Korea watcher warned Friday, calling for swift action from the international community to curb the import of parts that could be used to make weapons. Kim Jina, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses, a Defense Ministry think tank, made the claim after analyzing the communist regime’s import items. Despite the sweeping sanctions imposed by the United Nat

A South Korean pastor who leads a church at the center of an explosive coronavirus resurgence was detained again on Monday after the court accepted prosecutors’ motion to revoke his bail. Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon was taken back into custody shortly after the Seoul Central District Court said, without elaborating, that he had violated the two-part conditions of his bail, which mandated him not to get involved in any protest that was illegal or linked to his case pending the court ruling. Prose

The South Korean military said Monday it was opening its trauma center early on Wednesday to help with coronavirus care amid a surge in the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients here. The center was to open in January next year. Sixty-eight health workers, including 5 military doctors and 10 military nurses, will be dispatched. It has prepared 40 beds specifically for COVID-19 patients. A group of military health workers were sent a week earlier to the military Capital Hospital to treat

The amount of money spent on a single coronavirus patient -- from the pre-diagnosis stage through recovery -- is close to 48 million won ($40,100), the southwestern city of Gwangju revealed. Detecting and responding to the single confirmed case requires a total of 457 public officials mobilized, the city said, based on its analysis of 369 local infection cases in the city. The direct costs of identifying and treating a COVID-19 patient stood at 47.81 million won. About 80 percent of that spe

The Unification Ministry is working with the Korean Red Cross to roll out a virtual reality tour of North Korea for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the ministry said Sunday. “The project aims to comfort the split families here, as the window of reunion opportunity is getting smaller by the day, given their advanced age,” a ministry official said. The first VR content will be about the hometown of Hyun Mi, an 83-year-old singer who was born in Pyongyang in 1937 and was

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday toured a province hit by Typhoon Maysak after convening a meeting there where he discussed countermeasures and replaced the provincial party committee chairman, the Korean Central News Agency said Sunday. “We can’t let our people here go on without homes when our national holiday is nearing,” Kim was quoted as saying at the meeting before visiting South Hamgyong Province. The regime celebrates the anniversary of its ruling party Oct.

South Korean defense firm Hanwha Defense was named the preferred bidder for an artillery project worth about 1 trillion won ($842 million) in Australia, which involves building self-propelled K9 howitzers and K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, the Australian Defense Ministry said Thursday. “Through this project, this Government is delivering the capability Army needs while creating local jobs in and around Geelong that will grow our highly skilled workforce,” Australian Defense Minis

South Korean military doctors will be dispatched to understaffed civilian health facilities to help treat coronavirus patients, as trainee doctors carry on their strike amid a surge in the number of severely and critically ill COVID-19 patients, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Starting Friday, 22 military doctors will begin work at nine facilities in the Seoul area, including hospitals, screening clinics and other designated centers treating COVID-19 patients. More doctors are expected to

The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday that it was seeking a 5 percent increase in its budget for next year, with most of the total 52.9 trillion won ($44.7 billion) linked to personnel training and facilities maintenance. “We will make sure to invest in beefing up our capabilities to counter any security threat, both conventional and unconventional,” the ministry said. The budget is drawn as South Korea seeks to deter aggression from North Korea amid stalled nuclear talks, w

Air Force chief Won In-choul was named to lead the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Ministry of National Defense said Monday. “He is an operations expert with initiative to power through defense reforms including ongoing efforts to transfer the wartime operational control to South Korea from the US,” the ministry said. Seoul had been making preparations to take over the wartime role from Washington by 2022, but the plan has hit a snag over the reduced joint drills to te

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not passed down his key posts and that means Kim has not delegated power, retired Gen. Vincent Brooks, who was commander of the 28,500-strong United States Forces Korea between 2016 and 2018, said in response to a South Korean intelligence analysis. The National Intelligence Service told lawmakers on Aug. 20 that while Kim holds absolute power, he has delegated some of it to key aides including his sister Kim Yo-jong, who, the agency added, is the de facto No

Army chief Gen. Suh Wook was tapped to head the Ministry of National Defense, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday at a briefing. “He is experienced in field operations and strategy and has as well exceptional expertise in joint operations at the ROK-US Combined Forces Command,” spokesperson Kang Min-seok said, adding that Gen. Suh is fully versed in security initiatives championed by President Moon Jae-in. Suh, a four-star general, has taken on senior roles involving operations and strategy

The US government on Thursday sought to seize 280 cryptocurrency accounts believed to have ties to North Korean hackers who stole cryptocurrencies worth millions of dollars from two virtual exchanges and tried to launder the funds through Chinese traders. In a civil forfeiture complaint, the US Justice Department linked the cybertheft to North Korea and referred as well to a UN Panel of Experts report that the state-backed North Korean hackers stole about $500 million from at least five exchang

The World Health Organization said it has been informed of zero coronavirus infection in North Korea so far, since the pandemic outbreak late last year. “As of 20 August, 2,767 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the country and all have tested negative. WHO is yet to get details about the suspected case that was reported in Kaesong,” said Edwin Salvador, WHO representative to North Korea, referring to a city near the inter-Korean border. He told Voice of America in an email th

North Korean hackers have resumed robbing banks across the globe by draining cash from ATMs on fraudulent money transfers, multiple US federal agencies warned Wednesday. A technical alert on hacker group BeagleBoyz, jointly written by four different agencies including the Treasury Department and FBI, said North Korea resumed the bank heist campaign in February, ending a hiatus in activity from late last year. North Korea is believed to be funding its nuclear and missile programs with the

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened a politburo meeting of the ruling Worker’s Party on Tuesday to discuss measures in response to Typhoon Bavi and the coronavirus outbreak, the North‘s Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. “It is imperative to minimize casualties and crop damage. A good harvest depends on it,” Kim was quoted as saying at the meeting, urging aides to keep people informed of the latest on Typhoon Bavi, which is set to hit the country Wednesday a

The United Nations will discuss human rights conditions in North Korea at the coming General Assembly scheduled to open Sept. 15, the Secretariat said. It added that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will report on the latest developments while Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the North, will make recommendations at the UN Third Committee dealing with human rights. The committee has usually looked at human rights abuses in the North in Oct

A barter exchange where South Korea trades sugar for North Korea’s liquor and food products as part of efforts to improve ties could not take place, despite Seoul’s strong push to do so, as the project involves a UN-sanctioned North Korean trading firm, lawmakers said Monday. Earlier in the day, the parliamentary intelligence was briefed on the latest finding by the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs. Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho held the briefing himself.

North Korea said Monday that it will move to correct its “deficiencies” at a congress scheduled for January, referring to a ruling Workers’ Party plenary meeting a week earlier where leader Kim Jong-un vowed to set a five-year economic plan because “unforeseen hurdles” had hampered economic growth. The state newspaper said in a commentary that the ruling party aims to use the congress to meet challenges here and abroad and to advance the country’s “revo