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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

South Korea, US to draft plan for future alliance command

The South Korean and U.S. militaries will soon formalize a plan to create a new combined command, which will become effective when Seoul regains its wartime operational control (OPCON) of the country's troops, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.The allies plan to approve the scheme in their annual Military Committee Meeting (MCM) and Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) later this month, it told lawmakers.The MCM is an annual session involving the chairmen of the allies' joint chiefs of staff (JCS). This year's meeting will be held in Seoul on Oct. 27, a day before the ministerial SCM."(The two sides) will authorize the creation of the future command of combined forces during the MCM and the SCM," the ministry said in a report for a regular parliamentary audit of its affairs.The allies will then draw up a specific scheme to establish a system to have a South Korean commander and a U.S. deputy commander, it added.The current Combined Forces Command (CFC), formed in 1978 as the headquarters of joint military operations, is led by a four-star U.S. commander. A four-star South

Oct 12, 2017

B-1B bombers exercise off S. Korea coast

 A U.S. B-1B Lancer bomber takes off from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, Tuesday, for an exercise with South Korean fighters over the Korean Peninsula. / Yonhap Arrival of attack submarine Tucson belatedly revealedBy Jun Ji-hyeU.S. B-1B Lancer bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula Tuesday night in an exercise with South Korean fighters, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.The training operation was yet another show of force to North Korea amid growing concerns over additional military provocations around the founding anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party of Korea that fell Tuesday.The North passed the anniversary without incident, but Pyongyang is capable of large-scale provocations at any time, according to the JCS and Cheong Wa Dae.“Two Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-15Ks conducted a combined exercise with two U.S. Air Force (USAF) B-1B strategic bombers from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam,” the JCS said in a press release.The nighttime drill came as US President Donald Trump discussed a slew of options with his nati

Oct 11, 2017
B-1B bombers exercise off S. Korea coast
  • Seoul, Washington to hold strategic dialogue next week

Lawmaker says favors given to Lockheed in F-35 deal

By Jun Ji-hyeU.S. defense company Lockheed Martin benefited from favoritism from the South Korean military when it won a deal to sell F-35 fighters during the Park Geun-hye administration, Rep. Kim Jong-dae of the Justice Party claimed Wednesday.In 2014, under the 7.3 trillion won ($6.43 billion) F-X project, Seoul decided to buy 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters as the Republic of Korea Air Force’s next-generation fighters, rather than Boeing F15-SEs.Rep. Kim said Lockheed Martin won the deal although it had failed to satisfy conditions requiring the value of the firm’s offset program to meet at least 50 percent of the total cost of the deal.The offset program in the arms trade refers to an agreement between exporting and importing entities, which calls for the exporter to undertake activities in order to satisfy secondary objectives of the importer, such as a technology transfer.Citing documents he received from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Kim said Lockheed Martin failed to meet the conditions of the offset program until February 2013 w

Oct 11, 2017

Classified military data hacked by North Korea

By Yi Whan-wooNorth Korean hackers accessed hundreds of classified military documents in September last year, including one about a Seoul-Washington operational plan on removing Pyongyang’s leadership, according to a lawmaker, Monday.The revelation contradicts the Ministry of National Defense’s explanation in May that, although its cyber networks were compromised in September 2016, the data leak was not at a “serious level.”Citing information from the ministry, Rhee Cheol-hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said 235 gigabytes of data were stolen after the hackers broke into internet websites and the intranet managed by the Defense Integrated Data Center (DIDC).The DIDC is responsible for storing all types of digital military data.It has only identified 22.5 percent or 53 gigabytes of the stolen data and does not know the content of the rest.Among the leaked data were 226 files classified as “secret” and 42 others listed as “confidential.”They included OPLANs 5015 and 3100. OPLAN 5015 calls for a joint pre-emptive strike by

Oct 10, 2017
  • North Korea passes critical anniversary without provocation
  • Two B-1B bombers hold firing drill against N. Korea

Korea secures technologies to develop graphite bomb

By Jun Ji-hyeThe South Korean military has secured technologies necessary to develop a special bomb containing carbon fibers, designed to disable North Korea’s electrical power systems in case of war, sources said Monday.The technical development, led by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD), has reached its final stage, and once the relevant budget is allocated, the nation would be able to make such a bomb, they added.“All technologies to develop a graphite bomb have been secured,” the source said, noting the nation can build the bombs “anytime.”The so-called blackout bomb is a nonlethal weapon designed to short out electrical transformers powering the North’s nuclear and missile facilities. The bomb works by spreading chemically treated carbon filaments to short-circuit and disrupt the electrical supply.The weapon is one of the key parts forming the nation’s Kill Chain system, designed to carry out a pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile facilities if Seoul is faced with an imminent threat.Seoul is pl

Oct 10, 2017

Classified military documents leaked by North Korean hackers last year: lawmaker

North Korean hackers are believed to have stolen a large amount of classified military documents, including the latest South Korea-U.S. wartime operational plan, last year, a ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday.Citing information from unnamed defense officials, Democratic Party Rep. Rhee Cheol-hee said that the hackers broke into the Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year to steal the secret files, such as Operational Plans 5015 and 3100.OPLAN 5015 is the latest Seoul-Washington scheme to handle an all-out war with Pyongyang, which reportedly contains detailed procedures to "decapitate" the North Korean leadership. OPLAN 3100 is Seoul's plan to respond to the North's localized provocations.Rhee said that 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken with the content of nearly 80 percent of them yet to be identified. Also among them were contingency plans for the South's special forces, reports to allies' top commanders, and information on key military facilities and power plants, he added."The Ministry of National Defense has yet to find out about the content of 182 gi

Oct 10, 2017
Classified military documents leaked by North Korean hackers last year: lawmaker

Gov't on alert over N. Korea provocation

By Choi Ha-youngSecurity-related ministries will operate their own round-the-clock contingency teams during the Chuseok holiday to deal with any possible provocations by North Korea, officials said Sunday.There are signs that Pyongyang may carry out yet another missile or nuclear test this month, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Workers’ Party foundation, Oct. 10.While U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are continuing their “war of words,” Washington, Moscow and Pyongyang are reportedly moving toward behind the scenes dialogue.In response to the diplomatic dynamics, officials at Cheong Wa Dae’s National Security Office (NSO) will be on duty in rotation. “The presidential office has established a system to immediately respond to urgent situations,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said. “Particularly, the crisis management center under the NSO will operate 24 hours a day as usual.”Officials at the Ministry of National Defense are on duty as well. “As always, the defense ministry keeps our eye on North

Oct 1, 2017

Seoul designs nuclear submarine reactor

By Yi Whan-wooSouth Korea has already drawn up a preliminary sketch of a reactor for a 4,000-ton nuclear-powered submarine, according to military officials, Sunday.The Moon Jae-in administration is seeking negotiations with Washington to build the country’s own nuclear-powered submarines in line with a push to bolster military capabilities for self-defense and better cope with North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats.The officials said scientists at the Agency for Defense Development, which is under the wing of the Ministry of National Defense, already finished the design for a nuclear reactor three years ago.This suggests the military is ready to create a nuclear submarine prototype if the Moon government completes the negotiations with the United States.“The country is virtually ready to work on the detailed design of the reactor and make it once relevant policies are finalized,” an official said. “Production is estimated to take three to five years. It will require consent from the U.S. on having South Korea use uranium enriched up to 20 percent as the

Oct 1, 2017

US aircraft carrier to hold joint drill in East Sea

The United States is expected to send the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a forward-deployed aircraft carrier, to waters near the Korean Peninsula this month for a combined exercise with South Korea's Navy, a defense official here said Sunday."We are in consultations (with the U.S.) on a plan for the aircraft strike group led by the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan, to operate in the East Sea around Oct. 15," the official said on condition of anonymity.The Reagan will likely be accompanied by several other warships belonging to the strike group, such as an Aegis destroyer, a guided-missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered submarine.The two sides plan to conduct joint drills to detect, track and intercept the North's ballistic missiles in addition to anti-submarine warfare training, according to the official.The practice comes as military tensions have escalated on the peninsula over the North's recent provocations, although the official said the allies' planned naval operation has been prearranged.Keen attention will be paid to whether the supercarrier will cross the inter-Korean sea borde

Oct 1, 2017
US aircraft carrier to hold joint drill in East Sea

Deployment of strategic US weapons in progress

By Jun Ji-hyeSouth Korea is consulting with the United States on the rotational deployment of strategic U.S. military assets around the Korean Peninsula, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.“The deployment could begin before the end of the year or after the new year,” a presidential aide told reporters.He said the timing was flexible depending on how the consultation goes, adding, “Consultations about the details are ongoing.”The statement came a day after President Moon Jae-in’s top security advisor said the U.S. will deploy strategic weapons around the peninsula on a rotational basis as early as late this year.Chung Eui-young, the chief of the National Security Office, made the remarks during the President’s meeting with the leaders of four political parties at Cheong Wa Dae, according to Rep. Cheong Yang-seog, deputy floor leader of the conservative opposition Bareun Party.“The United States has pledged to expand the rotational deployment of its strategic assets near the peninsula,” Chung told the party leaders when asked if there were &ldqu

Sep 28, 2017
  • Moon reaffirms early OPCON transfer
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