The South Korean and Australian defense chiefs will discuss a wide range of issues including North Korea, Indo-Pacific strategy and defense cooperation in Canberra this week. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup kicked off his first five-day trip to Australia Tuesday at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles. Lee and Marles are set to meet Thursday and “share an assessment of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,&rdq

South Korea, the United States and Japan are set to jointly conduct a ballistic missile defense exercise to enhance military interoperability and readiness against escalating threats from North Korea. The Pacific Dragon ballistic missile defense drill led by the US Pacific Fleet will be held for two weeks between Monday and Aug. 14 off the coast of Hawaii, the South Korean military confirmed on Sunday. A total of five countries — South Korea, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the US &mdash

The South Korean and US defense chiefs committed to stepping up combined military exercises and restarting strategic dialogue on extended deterrence in September to address North Korea’s escalating threats. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met Friday in Washington and “discussed the major pending issues of the alliance and shared their assessment of North Korea’s evolving threats,” South Korea’s Defense Ministry said

South Korea’s Navy announced Friday that it will begin deploying women officers aboard submarines starting from 2024 after an eight-year comprehensive review. The Navy gave the green light to the plan for integrating enlisted female sailors to submarine crews at a policy meeting held at the headquarters in the city of Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province on Thursday, it announced the following day. South Korea’s Navy plans to recruit three female submarine crew members in 2023 and

The North Korean leader warned that the country will “annihilate” South Korea’s conventional forces should they seek preemptive military action and confrontation against North Korea, lambasting the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s defense strategy and military buildup. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday delivered a speech at an outdoor event in front of the Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War in Pyongyang to mark “Victory Day” in the Kor

North Korea held a politically charged event to mark its “Victory Day” in the Korean War, though its celebrations were notably absent of saber rattling and bellicose rhetoric from the country’s leader. But the United States said concerns still remain over a seventh nuclear test, warning that it would incur “tremendous costs” to North Korea. North Korea held an eighth national conference of war veterans in the capital city of Pyongyang on Tuesday on the occasion

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Tuesday that Japan should seek the consent of neighboring countries before moving ahead with its plan to discharge treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. When asked by a reporter about the Japanese government’s recent approval to build discharge facilities during his regular morning press briefing, Yoon said: “Since my presidential campaign, my position has been that (Japan) should provid

The South Korean and US defense chiefs are set to extensively discuss how to reinforce the alliance’s deterrence and defense posture to address evolving missile and nuclear threats from North Korea. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup is scheduled to make his first trip to the US between Tuesday and Saturday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced Monday. Lee will meet US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday to “share an assessment of the security situation on t

North Korea will hold a nationwide politically charged event for its “War Victory Day” to mark the anniversary of the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. High-ranking US and South Korean officials will have in-person meetings in Seoul and Washington this week to discuss mounting threats from North Korea.　 The eighth national conference of war veterans will be held in the capital city of Pyongyang to mark the “great war victory day, which is the great pride and

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said its focus is on mapping out an “audacious plan” to provide economic compensation and security guarantees in return for North Korea’s “substantial measures for denuclearization.” Unification Minister Kwon Young-se on Friday briefed President Yoon Suk-yeol on the vision of North Korea and unification policy as well as three principles and five core tasks to implement the policy, the Unification Ministry said in a press s

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it would strengthen special operations forces’ infiltration and strike capabilities and step up large-scale South Korea-US field training exercises to deal with North Korea’s escalating threats. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup directly briefed President Yoon Suk-yeol on the overall direction and priorities of defense policy and plans to implement major tasks Friday morning at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul. The Defense Min

South Korea’s first homegrown KF-21 fighter jet successfully completed its inaugural test flight Tuesday afternoon, the country’s arms procurement agency announced. A KF-21 Boramae fighter prototype took off for its maiden flight at 3:40 p.m. at the base of South Korea’s Air Force 3rd Training Wing in the city of Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said. The jet flew for 33 minutes and landed at 4:13 p.m. Major Ahn Jun-hyun of So

South Korea and the United Kingdom committed to expanding “substantial” defense cooperation in multifaceted areas, including combined exercises, cyber domain and outer space, at the first vice-ministerial defense consultative meeting. South Korea’s Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul and his UK counterpart Annabel Goldie held a bilateral defense strategic dialogue on Monday afternoon in London, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. South Korea and the UK have

North Korea should further reinforce its military strength against mounting threats and pressure from the US, the state-run media said Monday, in line with North Korea’s recent move to step up anti-American propaganda. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, said that “a series of fierce confrontations with enemies has continued” for 70 years after the 1950-53 Korean War in a front-page political essay. The political essay, which in North Kor

F-35 stealth fighters from the South Korean and the US air forces teamed up for the first time for four days of combined aerial drills, as the allies move to enhance interoperability and combined defense posture against North Korea’s escalating threats. South Korea and the US conducted combined military exercises involving fifth-generation F-35A fighter jets in South Korean airspace from Monday to Thursday, South Korea’s Air Force announced Thursday. Around 30 aircraft -- which i

North Korea has formally recognized two Russian-supported breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states and pledged to develop “state-to-state relations” with them. In response, Ukraine has severed diplomatic relations with North Korea. North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui announced the country’s decision to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in letters sen

North Korea fired suspected artillery shots two days in a row earlier this week, a South Korean military source confirmed Wednesday. The South Korean military detected one trajectory presumed to be a North Korean artillery piece being launched toward the western seas on Monday morning, the source -- who requested to remain anonymous -- said. The official declined to share further details, including the exact location and time of the launch, for security reasons. The belated confirmation cam

Satellite imagery shows that North Korea’s main plutonium-producing nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex is in operation, a Washington-based think tank reported Tuesday. The 5-megawatt reactor has continued to operate to produce weapons-grade plutonium despite heavy rains over the past several weeks, according to 38 North, a US website monitoring North Korea, based on commercial satellite imagery collected on July 5. The satellite imagery analysis is in line with the recent a

North Korea appears to have operated South Korean facilities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex without permission, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Tuesday. The Unification Ministry has found indications that the North Korean authorities have operated the factories built and owned by South Korean companies at the inter-Korean industrial park in North Korea, an official -- who wished to remain anonymous -- said during a closed-door briefing. “We have recently detected relate

New excavation activity was detected at a nuclear waste storage facility within the Yongbyon nuclear complex for the first time since 2016, which could be part of North Korea’s preparations to produce plutonium. Commercial satellite images acquired on July 3 showed the new excavation activity on the west side of the waste storage building leading to an unused bay door, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said Monday. The facility, commonly known as Build