Ki Chan-soo, the commissioner for the Military Manpower Administration, vowed support for conscientious objectors, highlighting the MMA’s change of role with the upcoming introduction of an alternative form of service.The chief of the military recruitment agency also asserted that a corruption-free draft system must be maintained, touching on the controversies surrounding the enlistment of K-pop stars and celebrities, such as Big Bang’s Seungri and the members of boy group BTS.&ldquo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s exiled uncle has been recalled to his home country after having spent decades as an envoy in Europe, according to reports Sunday. Lawmakers of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon reportedly confirmed that Kim Pyong-il, North Korea’s top envoy to the Czech Republic, has returned to Pyongyang. The NIS had said early last month that Pyong-il would be replaced and return to North Korea

The floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party came under fire Thursday after it was reported that she had expressed concerns to the US that holding a US-North Korea summit before South Korea’s general elections might have a negative impact. On Wednesday, a local broadcaster reported that Rep. Na Kyung-won had asked US officials not to hold a US-North Korea summit before April 15, when South Korea’s general elections will take place. The US officials reportedly included

A North Korean merchant vessel crossed the de facto maritime border into South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday and was headed northward and expected to fully cross the de facto maritime border into the north around midnight, Seoul’s military said. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military detected an unidentified ship that crossed the Northern Limit Line and entered South Korean waters on the northwestern side of Baengnyeong Island at 6:40 a.m. At around 12:30 p.m.,

South Korea has lodged an official complaint against Pyongyang for conducting a live firing drill on an island inside the buffer zone near the de facto maritime border, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. North Korea’s state-operated Korean Central News Agency reported Monday that its leader Kim Jong-un had ordered a firing drill involving coastal artilleries on the Changrin Islets, just north of the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea. As the live firing exercise took place ins

South Korea on Monday denounced Pyongyang’s artillery drill conducted on an islet near the de facto maritime border, saying it violated an inter-Korean military agreement. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported earlier in the day that its leader Kim Jong-un had ordered a firing drill involving coastal artilleries on Changrin Islets, just north of the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea.Kim conducted field guidance for a military unit there, to highlight the importance of

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Friday the “groundwork” has been laid for South Korea to persuade Japan to withdraw its trade curbs against Seoul, after the two agreed on measures that delayed the final decision on the ongoing row over a military intelligence-sharing pact.Speaking to reporters just before departing to Nagoya, Japan to attend a foreign ministerial meeting of Group of 20 nations, Kang also said Seoul’s position has not changed much. “

K-pop group BTS will not be exempted from military duty, the government said Thursday, announcing a new amendment to the military service law.All able-bodied young Korean men are required to serve in the military for about two years, with limited exemptions offered for those with outstanding achievements in sports and arts that “raise the national profile,” under the Military Service Act.There have been criticisms that the exemption system is unfair in excluding pop musicians, such a

As an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan is set to expire at midnight Friday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in underscored that Tokyo has given Seoul just cause to terminate the agreement. Speaking at a televised question-and-answer session Tuesday, Moon also said he would work until the last minute with Japan to avoid the termination of the 2016 General Security of Military Information Agreement -- but that Tokyo still has to act first to normalize trade.In August, Korea announced its decis

North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator said Tuesday dialogue with the United States will be “impossible” unless it abandons its hostile policy against the communist regime. Kim Myong-gil, the roving ambassador at the North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, also emphasized again that the US should not try to involve a third party in their relationship, according to an interview with Korean Central News Agency.  “As we have already reiterated several times, the DPRK-US d

North Korea should cease escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula since Seoul and Washington have postponed their planned joint aerial drill, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Monday, according to the pre-distributed address to a regional defense ministers’ conference.Attending the sixth Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, Jeong also said working-level talks between the US and North Korea and the third summit between the leader

The defense ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States met Sunday to discuss their differences regarding the intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, amid concerns that the ongoing row might weaken the trilateral security alliance.Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, held bilateral talks and met with their US counterpart in a separate trilateral meeting, both of which took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meet

The top military commanders of South Korea and the United States discussed the allies’ military readiness and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula at the 44th Military Committee Meeting in Seoul on Thursday.South Korea’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Park Han-ki and his US counterpart Gen. Mark Milley were joined by some 20 officials from South Korea and 17 officials from the US, including US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Philip Davidson and US-ROK Combin

The Defense Ministry said Thursday the military authorities of Seoul and Washington support the diplomatic efforts for the denuclearization of North Korea, while the US defense chief hinted at the possibility of adjusting the scope of joint military drills.On the plane to Seoul to attend Friday’s Security Consultative Meeting, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday he is open to adjusting the combined military exercises with South Korea if it can provide room for diplomacy with

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province -- By terminating its bilateral intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, South Korea risks sending the wrong message -- that the trilateral alliance of South Korea, the US and Japan is weak -- Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the US-ROK Combined Forces Command, said Tuesday.Marking his first year in office, Abrams, who also commands United States Forces Korea and the United Nations Command, spoke on a series of current issues, including the ongoing defense cost-sh

Former commanders and deputy commanders of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command will gather to discuss the future of the alliance this week, forum organizers said Monday.The Korea-US Alliance Foundation said it will host the first Former Combined Forces Command CDR-DCDR Forum at Millennium Hilton Seoul on Wednesday. The theme will be the Republic of Korea-US alliance.Four former US commanders -- John Tilelli, Walter Sharp, James Thurman and Curtis Scaparrotti -- and four former deputy commanders -

South Korea and the United States will hold their annual defense ministers’ talks in Seoul next week to reaffirm their alliance and discuss issues including the transfer of wartime operational control, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his US counterpart Mark Esper will attend the 51st Security Consultative Meeting on Nov. 15, where they are expected to touch on pending issues, such as Seoul’s intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo. Esp

In the financial and banking district of Yeouido in the center of Seoul, part of the oldest airport in the country is preserved to remind people of South Korea’s aviation history.Korea’s very first airport was constructed in 1916 on Yeouido, which was a barren sandbank in the capital city, known as Gyeongseong at the time. In the times when the idea of flying was unfamiliar to most Koreans, tens of thousands gathered in Yeouido to watch world-famous American stunt pilot Art Smit

The ongoing defense cost-sharing negotiations between South Korea and the United States face a rough road ahead, with Washington reportedly asking Seoul to pay for expenses not included in the original agreement.The US has asked Korea to pay about $5 billion toward the cost of maintaining its troops stationed here for another year, about five times more than the current 1.04 trillion won ($861.4 million), local media reported Thursday. This amount reportedly would include items that are not stip

David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, on Wednesday welcomed “fantastic” talks with South Korean government officials. Visiting the country as part of his Asia tour, the senior US official met with Korean government officials to discuss the alliance and ways to cooperate in the region, including separate meetings with Kim Hyun-chong, second deputy director of the presidential National Security Office, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa, and w