The summit Wednesday between Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping demonstrated the two countries’ evolving, increasingly multifaceted ties while building momentum for Seoul’s efforts to play a more proactive role in peninsula issues and regional diplomacy. During the meeting, Xi touted the bilateral relationship has developed to its “best-ever” in terms of politics, economy, trade, people-to-people exchanges and other areas, thanks to the two leaders’ cooperation. Park, for her part, expresse

By Shin Hyon-heeResidents of a border island in the West Sea have turned in a petition calling for the removal of loudspeakers installed there for anti-Pyongyang broadcasts that sparked a recent exchange of fire between the two Koreas, military officials said Wednesday. The appeal was made Monday to the Defense Ministry by about 100 people living on Gyodong Island in Ganghwa County, Incheon, located just south of the Northern Limit Line, the skirmish-prone maritime border with North Korea. “They

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday touted a recent breakthrough between the two Koreas, saying its thorough implementation starting with a fresh round of reunions of separated families would bring the peninsula closer to lasting peace and eventually a unification.The sides are scheduled for a working-level meeting on Sept. 7 at the border village of Panmunjeom to arrange the family reunions, following their three-day high-level talks that ended last Tuesday. “If we safeguard the hard-won agreeme

An appeals court ruled Tuesday that the government does not have to unveil the information of cases involving U.S. soldiers if it has relinquished its right to exercise jurisdiction over them under the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, upending the original judgment. Under SOFA, which governs the legal status of some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed across the southern part of the peninsula, South Korea can primarily invoke judicial power when a serviceman is implicated in crimes, except

The number of South Korean servicemen who deserted from the military has steadily declined by more than 40 percent over the past three years, a report said Monday, reflecting ongoing efforts to improve barrack lives. According to the report submitted by the High Court for Armed Forces to Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, 415 people broke barracks last year, up about 41.4 percent from 708 in 2011. The annual figures have been nudging downward, albeit w

South Korea and the U.S. have forged an upgraded operational plan that will pave the way for a preemptive strike such as in a contingency case involving the use of weapons of mass destruction, military sources said Thursday. The OPLAN 5015 was formulated last June to replace OPLAN 5027 by the chairmen of the two countries’ Joint Chiefs of Staff. The allies have, since 1974, been assessing their joint defense plan every year, primarily to devise better responses to North Korea’s military threats.

By Shin Hyon-heeSouth Korea has lifted its highest-level military readiness posture as more signs were detected of frontline North Korean forces cranking back into their bases in the wake of cross-border dialogue, military officials here said Wednesday. The decision coincides with the North’s ongoing reinstatement of submarines, air cushion vehicles, 76.2-milimeter artillery guns and other firearms and gunners. Seoul, in turn, ceased its anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts along the Military D

South Korea plans to dispatch senior military officials to China’s World War II anniversary parade next week despite lingering controversy over the two countries’ growing security cooperation, military sources said Wednesday. The three-member delegation will be led by Lt. Gen. Chung Kyung-doo, head of strategic planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the sources said. Defense Minister Han Min-koo also said he would send three executives including a three-star general at a parliamentary session la

An Army staff sergeant was wounded in an explosion last weekend of a land mine presumed to have been buried by the South Korean military in the Demilitarized Zone, officials said Wednesday. The incident took place at 11:46 a.m. on Sunday in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, during a scouting mission around an area where the Army intentionally planted mines to deter a possible intrusion by North Korean troops. The staff sergeant, who was wearing galoshes and other protective gear, suffered a slight f

Following a hard-fought breakthrough, the two Koreas began taking steps Tuesday to defuse tension on the peninsula, as the South halted anti-Pyongyang broadcasts along the border as of midday and the North lifted its “quasi-state of war” and was seen reinstating some frontline military forces. The broadcasts and wartime declaration came to an end at noon, hours after the two sides clinched a six-point agreement in which Pyongyang displayed regret over a recent land mine blasts in the Demilitariz

Though it came to a close just 15 days after breaking an 11-year hiatus, South Korea’s loudspeaker broadcast along the heavily fortified border proved to be formidable enough to rush a defiant Kim Jong-un regime to the negotiating table and extract concessions. The equipment became idle as of noon Tuesday in line with the two Koreas’ agreement earlier in the day. Pyongyang, for its part, expressed regret over a land mine explosion on Aug. 4 that nearly maimed the legs of two South Korean soldier

South Korea and the U.S. are seeking to mobilize a B-52 strategic bomber and other strategic assets on the peninsula as part of efforts to deter attacks by North Korea, Seoul officials said Monday. Uncertainties were growing across the border as the North Korean military was seen sharply building up frontline artillery and sending out an unprecedented number of submarines for unidentified operations since leader Kim Jong-un declared a “quasi-state of war” on Friday. The North has forward-deploye

The Koreas’ cross-border standoff showed more signs of flaring up on Sunday as the North Korean military sharply beefed up its frontline artillery forces and forward-deployed a majority of its submarines and other offensive assets despite the high-level talks over the weekend. With negotiations between top Seoul and Pyongyang officials stretching into the second day, the number of North Korean gunners spotted in ready position nearly doubled from Friday, according to military authorities here. T

Watch Condition is an alert system operated by the joint forces of South Korea and the U.S. to measure reconnaissance posture for strategic and tactical warning of attack. The allies late Friday raised the Watchcon by one notch to level 2, which will allow them to strengthen stealth and reconnaissance countermeasures over North Korea with its RC-135 snooper aircraft, Aegis destroyers with radar surveillance systems and spy satellites. Watchcon 1 has not been issued since the end of the 1950-53 K

Military tensions between the two Koreas rocketed to fresh highs Friday as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a “quasi-state of war” and put frontline troops in full combat readiness, while Seoul continued to snub Pyongyang’s calls for a retraction of loudspeaker broadcasts. The two sides traded fire Thursday after the North launched artillery shells apparently targeting the loudspeakers installed in the border areas. The communist state then threatened military action unless the South hal

The two Koreas traded fire on Thursday after the North launched artillery shells apparently targeting propaganda loudspeakers installed across the border, threatening additional military action against the broadcasts and further heightening tension on the peninsula.The North fired a 14.5-milimeter anti-aircraft gun once at around 3:53 p.m. at a town in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, and then a 76.2-mm direct fire weapon “several times” at 4:15 p.m. within the Demilitarized Zone, military o

By Shin Hyon-heeThe two Koreas have agreed to raise the minimum wage by 5 percent for North Korean workers at their joint factory park, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday, following months of grueling negotiations amid strained cross-border ties. The sides held talks at the Gaeseong industrial complex at the North Korean border city on Monday. Under the deal, the monthly pay, which includes insurance fees and other benefits, will increase to $73.87 from $70.35 and apply retroactively from Mar

Shortly after its liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the peninsula faced yet another tragedy as North Korea invaded the South five years later, driving the territory into ruin and deepening the plight of people on both sides of the border. Neither the 35-year foreign occupation nor the three-year war, however, could thwart South Korea’s epic political and economic ascent from the ashes. More than 60 years on, the country stands as the world’s 13th-largest economy in terms of gross d

By Shin Hyon-heeSouth Korea and the U.S. will hold a summit on Oct. 16 to discuss their response to North Korea’s land mine provocation, its ongoing nuclear weapons development and other regional and global issues, the two countries said Friday. The announcement came after President Park Geun-hye shelved her planned five-day trip in June to address the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak at home. “(The two leaders) will chart the expansion of our cooperation into new areas that will increa

Defense Minister Han Min-koo vowed Wednesday to scale up loudspeaker broadcasts in the Demilitarized Zone area and bolster psychological warfare against North Korea in retaliation for its suspected planting of land mines that inflicted serious injuries on South Korean troops last week. The South Korean military resumed its propaganda program after more than 11 years on Monday, after the Joint Chiefs of Staff determined that North Korean soldiers had crossed the border and buried the three land m