South Korea did not have any prior knowledge that the US might charge it for the deployment of a new missile shield, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday, as controversy escalated here over US President Donald Trump’s surprise remark last week about possibly billing Korea $1 billion for the system, which the allies said is now “operational” with “initial capability.” The presidential office’s clarification came in response to a local report that claimed that a transition team for then President-elect Trum

South Korea on Monday ruled out any future negotiation over who should pay for a US advanced missile defense system to be deployed here, but left open the possibility that the Trump administration might use the issue as leverage against Seoul during the allies’ defense-sharing negotiations scheduled to take place next year. Citing the Status of Forces Agreement and a classified separate agreement with US Forces in Korea, the Defense Ministry stressed that the allies had agreed that the US would

Security chiefs of South Korea and the United States reaffirmed the initial agreement on a US advanced missile defense system that Washington would shoulder expenses for deploying and operating the weapon system, Seoul’s presidential office said Sunday.The reassurance came amid growing jitters here over US President Donald Trump’s surprise remarks that South Korea should pay $1 billion for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, some of whose key components have arrived on the peninsula.

In protest against South Korea’s decision to deploy a US advanced missile defense system, China has conducted multiple cyberattacks against the South Korean government and business sectors, said a former US Pacific Fleet commander Thursday.Retired Adm. Patrick Walsh, who is now vice president of customer education at American cybersecurity firm FireEye, suggested that there is “clear correlation” between the increased number of China-originated cyberattacks and South Korea’s decision to deploy t

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The exercise began with a bang from explosives being fired off near a ditch. Taking it as a cue for the North Korean Army’s hypothetical invasion, South Korea’s K-9 and K-55 self-propelled guns, as well as multiple rocket launchers, fired off dozens of volleys toward mock targets. The artillery attack was immediately followed by multiple sorties of F-15K and FA-50 jet fighters, which scrambled from the east and dropped bombs on dummy targets designed as North Korea’

The US Forces Korea on Wednesday brought launchers, a radar and other key parts of its advanced missile defense system to its deployment site, in a surprise move to accelerate the process ahead of a presidential election here amid heightened tension on the peninsula. Some 20 trailers carrying key components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system arrived at the site at dawn in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Although covered by plastic boxes and wrapping, they were believed to incl

The United States military staged a massive show of force against North Korea by deploying its strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, as North Korea marked a major holiday amid mounting multilateral pressure on the regime’s nuclear ambition. The nuclear-powered USS Michigan made a call at the Port of Busan in time for the 85th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean People‘s Army. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is also heading toward the East Sea to join

The controversy over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s alleged remarks that Korea used to be part of China highlights a slew of sticking points that may vex South Korea’s next president in dealing with an assertive China and the unpredictable Trump leadership. The comments were released by US President Donald Trump in an April 12 interview with the Wall Street Journal. During their summit, Xi explained the history of China and Korea, about “thousands of years ... and many wars. And Korea actually u

Confusion over the deployment of a US aircraft carrier continued to roil South Korea on Wednesday after an aircraft carrier strike group, initially known to be heading toward the Korean Peninsula, was found to have been sailing in the opposite direction, thousands of kilometers away. On April 9, the US Navy announced the diversion of the Carl Vinson Strike Group to the Western Pacific from its original route from Singapore to Australia. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, National Security Advisor H.R

Every March, the Korean Peninsula is drawn into an all-too-familiar cycle of escalating tension. It starts with South Korea and the US kicking off their annual military drills with a massive scale of troops and state-of-the-art assets, followed by North Korea churning out rebuke in a warlike rhetoric. The following month, Pyongyang gears up to celebrate a series of major national holidays, often with a nuclear or long-range missile test, triggering the allies’ warnings and condemnation. As tensi

In a growing show of force against North Korea, the United States’ Carl Vinson Strike Group is expected to arrive at South Korea’s eastern waters on April 25, in time for the communist regime’s army foundation anniversary, said Seoul officials Monday.Led by the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the strike group will join the South Korean Navy in a massive maritime drill designed to counter provocation from the North, which on Sunday conducted a missile test that fail

US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a three-day visit aimed at further enhancing bilateral alliance against the growing military threat from North Korea, which carried out a failed missile test just hours before the arrival. The vice president will meet with Seoul’s acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday afternoon to reinforce the US commitment to the alliance and to consult with South Korea over North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.Th

With a US aircraft carrier group making its way to South Korean waters, rumors are surfacing in South Korea that a war is imminent. “April 27 is the most likely D-day as it is a nice day for US stealth fighters to fly,” read one of the messages spreading fast via the country’s No. 1 mobile messenger Kakao Talk. “The US will fire Tomahawk missiles and bunker buster bombs against Pyongyang,” another said. Although dismissed as “groundless” by the South Korean government, the messages reflect the m

 Liberal presidential candidate Moon Jae-in has vowed all-out efforts to resolve military tension on the Korean Peninsula, if elected, expressing confidence in dealing with both North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.  　In an interview with The Korea Herald on Monday, the leading candidate said South Korea has been reduced to a “spectator” in the issue of its own survival, pledging to step up diplomacy and take the lead in any talks for peace on the peninsula. 　“The issue

Following the missile strike on a Syrian government air base, the US has sent a strike group toward the Korean Peninsula to bolster Washington’s presence in the region, as North Korea appears closer to conducting another nuclear and missile test. The Carl Vinson Strike Group is moving toward the peninsula after stopping in Singapore. The carrier strike group was originally scheduled to sail to Australia until the US Pacific Command changed its itinerary to the Western Pacific.The USS Carl Vinson

With North Korea’s state media keeping mum, the country’s latest missile test was likely to have failed due to an in-flight malfunction, news reports said Thursday, citing US defense officials. The reports also disputed the South Korean and US militaries’ initial assessment, saying the tested missile was an extended-range Scud, not a KN-15 intermediate-range ballistic missile, also known as the Pukguksong-2, which the North launched for the first time in February.This photo unveiled by the commu

North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast Wednesday in an apparent show of force a day before the first summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, South Korea’s military said. The missile lifted off at 6:42 a.m. from a land-based facility near the eastern coastal city of Sinpo, home to the North’s submarine base. Having reached an altitude of 189 kilometers, the missile flew about 60 kilometers before falling into the East Sea, South Korea’s Joint Chie

Despite North Korea’s accelerating efforts, Pyongyang is still “years away” from mastering the submarine-based ballistic missile technology, a top US Navy official said Tuesday, calling for greater attention on the communist country‘s progress on land-based ballistic missiles and warhead miniaturization development.Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet also expressed skepticism toward additional deployment of US strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula, although he did not rule out

South Korea, the US and Japan on Monday began an anti-submarine exercise designed to counter North Korea’s growing threats from submarine-based ballistic missiles, South Korea’s Navy said. The three-day exercise took place in waters between South Korea and Japan, near Jeju Island, where the three countries’ navies searched for and tracked a mock submarine, protected high-value units under a contingency scenario, and carried out anti-submarine defense maneuvers.South Korean warships stage an anti

South Korea and France need to consolidate security and economic ties amid uncertainty over future relations between the US and China under the Donald Trump administration, said the two countries’ senior officials and business leaders Thursday.With President Trump posing a challenge to the postwar liberal order by adopting a series of protectionist and isolationist policies, the panel urged the countries to present a unified front in navigating through looming challenges.Trade Minister Joo Hyung