The South Korean unification minister will visit Japan at the official invitation of the Japanese government to discuss ways to enhance coordination on North Korean issues, including North Korean abductions of South Korean and Japanese people. Unification Minister Kwon Young-se is scheduled to meet Japanese government officials and lawmakers during his four-day trip to Japan that begins Wednesday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry announced Monday. The trip essentially aims to upgrade bil

North Korea said it conducted a live-fire drill simulating attacks on South Korea by exploding a tactical nuclear weapon mounted on a missile in the air, ramping up its nuclear saber-rattling amid the ongoing defense-oriented Freedom Shied military exercise being conducted between South Korea and the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the two-day “joint tactical drills simulating a nuclear counterattack by units operating tactical nuclear weapons” on Saturday and S

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reiterated the nation's push for nuclear buildup to “instill fear” into South Korea and the United States as they conduct large-scale joint military exercises. Kim's threat was delivered while he was guiding the “launching drill” of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday. He was accompanied by his teenage daughter, Kim Ju-ae, North Korean state media reported on Friday. “Dear Respected Comrade Kim Jong-un said

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday said he has pledged to “normalize” the military intelligence-sharing pact between South Korea and Japan during the summit meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. The pact had been enmeshed in trade and historic disputes. Yoon said he “pronounced the complete normalization” of the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida in Tokyo, as a

North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile on Thursday morning, hours before a summit in Tokyo between the leaders of South Korea and Japan aimed at mending years of strained ties over historic disputes and enhancing security cooperation. The South Korean military said the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, was planned and intended to express North Korea’s “strong dissatisfaction” over the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Fumi

The presidential office has convened a National Security Council meeting after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday morning in the run-up to the summit between South Korean and Japanese leaders. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended the meeting and was briefed on the ICBM launch by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, the South Korean presidential office said in a statement. Yoon ordered countermeasures to North Korea’s ICBM

The South Korean Air Force’s major combat units conducted 36 hours of nonstop aerial drills to hone its combat capabilities in real war conditions during the 11-day Freedom Shield exercise of South Korea and the United States, the Air Force said Wednesday. The air combat exercises, conducted from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Wednesday, were designed to improve the readiness posture for war as well as strategic and tactical operations to ensure sustainability in battle. The main goals were to g

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward waters off its east coast on Tuesday, marking its third missile launch in just six days as South Korea and the United States entered the second day of the largest combined military exercise in years. The two short-range ballistic missiles were launched from the area of Jangyon County, South Hwanghae Province, from 7:41 to 7:51 a.m. local time, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles fired from the western inland ar

South Korea and the United States on Monday kicked off their longest-running, large-scale military exercises re-designed to strengthen defense and response capabilities against escalating threats from North Korea. In response, Pyongyang disclosed its first-ever underwater cruise missile launches on Sunday, raising the curtain on military actions which it had repeatedly warned. Amid North Korea’s accelerating military build-up, the Freedom Shield exercise continues for 11 days without a wee

North Korea has determined significant, practical steps to offensively use its “war deterrent” at a key military meeting in the run-up to the longest-running military exercise between South Korea and the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened an enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, North Korean state media reported on Sunday without specifying the date of the meeting. “The enlarged meeting discussed an

North Korea warned of “swift and overwhelming” military action and “physical conflict” on the Korean Peninsula by issuing two statements on Tuesday, marking the latest salvo in the country’s belligerent rhetoric that has escalated in the run-up to annual military exercises between South Korea and the United States. North Korea’s continuing war of words shows its intent to lay the foundation for taking likely high-profile military action during the upcoming &ld

The US Congress has urged the US Defense Department to take immediate measures to fix more than 1,000 errors on the Washington memorial wall erected to remember service members and Korean augmentees killed during the Korean War. Six bipartisan lawmakers, including chair of the House Committee on Armed Services Mike Rogers, on March 2 sent a letter to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. “We find these errors deeply concerning and write to seek accountability on how the Remembrance Wall&rs

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday announced a new food service modernization program for this year that meets more of soldiers’ preferences, so that they could enjoy more varied options at barracks starting from the next month. The new plan seeks to end the previous military policy of providing meals to around 500,000 enlisted soldiers based on standardized menus and ingredients that were unilaterally imposed by the military authorities without considering soldiers’ pre

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday announced its plan to develop a new anti-missile approach to destroy North Korean missiles before liftoff under the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s new defense reform initiative. The military underscored that its “top priority is to develop reliable deterrence and response capabilities to North Korean nuclear and missile threats which are currently one of the most serious and realistic threats” in the so-called Defense Reform 4.0 plan,

South Korea and the United States will revive theater-level field training exercises after a five-year hiatus to enhance the alliance’s defense and readiness posture against escalating threats from North Korea. The annual springtime combined exercise, dubbed as “Freedom Shield,” will be staged from March 13-23, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States Forces Korea said Friday in a joint statement. “Freedom Shield is designed to strengthen defense

The South Korean military on Thursday disclosed that South Korean and US special operations forces have staged monthlong “Teak Knife” military exercises since early February, practicing infiltration and precision strikes on key targets in North Korea, in an apparent warning message to North Korea. The rare disclosure came as South Korea and the US are scheduled to conduct annual, large-scale military exercises in mid-March and as North Korea has ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric an

A South Korean Unification Ministry amendment bill on the protection of North Korean defectors does not adequately guarantee their protection from forcible repatriation, a group of human rights organizations has said. They said the proposed revision gives too much discretion to the unification minister, who is appointed by the president and therefore cannot be seen as politically independent. Eight nongovernmental organizations from South Korea, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom

The South Korean unification minister on Monday said it is too early to conclude that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, has been appointed as the country’s next leader. But Unification Minister Kwon Young-se braced for the possibility of North Korea pursuing to position Kim Ju-ae as Kim Jong-un’s heir apparent in an interview with South Korean radio broadcaster CBS. Kwon answered that she is in a “gray zone” when asked whether he classifies her

South Korea has asked the US Indo-Pacific Command to revise the US military’s reference to international waters between Japan and South Korea from the “Sea of Japan” to a neutral description, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Thursday. The navies of South Korea, the United States and Japan conducted a trilateral missile defense exercise outside the territorial waters of South Korea and Japan on Wednesday to enhance military interoperability and readiness again

South Korea, the United States and Japan staged a ballistic missile defense exercise on Wednesday in international waters to enhance military interoperability and readiness against escalating threats from North Korea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The five-hour trilateral drills came days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles and one intercontinental ballistic missile, respectively, on Monday and Feb. 18. The navies of the three countries “focused on