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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.

S. Korea to test new recon planes in US this week

South Korea plans to conduct a flight test of two new reconnaissance planes in the United States this week, which can help the country better detect signs of North Korean missile launches and other threats, officials said Monday.The planes, part of the enhanced Baekdu program, will undergo their first flight tests in an airfield in Texas later this week, according to officials at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.The test is intended to examine the operability of the aircraft with internal mission equipment in development by local manufacturers including LIG Nex 1. The U.S. partner of the program is providing the technology to integrate them into the aircraft's central mission computer.In a major upgrade program, the military is seeking to adopt and deploy the two updated spy planes by 2017. The new functions of the planes include the detection of electronic signals emitted by machines before the North fires missiles. They could also track down heat sources in the event of a missile launch.If the plan moves ahead of schedule and there are no problems with performance, th

Apr 4, 2016

S. Korea partly resumes flight of F-16 jets following recent crash

South Korea partly resumed flights of its F-16 fighter jets on Monday after the crash of one plane led to a fleetwide grounding, the Air Force said.The U.S.-made combat aircraft plunged into an uninhabited hill in the southeast town of Cheongsong, some 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul on Wednesday, after its engine failed during a training mission. The two pilots aboard the airplane safely ejected.Following the accident, the Air Force suspended the flight of some 30 F-16 units, as well as 130 KF-16 fighter jets, a South Korean variant of the U.S. airplane, which the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. license-produced.With Monday's decision, around 130 KF-16 aircraft resumed their operations, an Air Force official said.But the F-16 jets remain grounded and will not resume flights until the Air Force wraps up its investigation into last week's crash, according to the official.The two models use different jet engines and the KF-16s safely underwent a special engine checkup, the official said, explaining why Seoul lifted the flight ban."A thorough investigation is under way over the crash

Apr 4, 2016

Army conducts artillery exercise along east coast amid N. Korean threats

South Korea's Army conducted a live-fire artillery exercise along the east coast on Monday amid continuous threats of attacks and missile and artillery launches by North Korea.The large-scale naval firing drill along the East Sea mobilized artillery units belonging to the three Army corps stationed along the eastern front of the inter-Korean border, according to the military.The drill simulated an artillery counter-attack against a supposed North Korean naval provocation, the Army noted.About 20 artillery weapons were mobilized in the one-day drill, including the K-9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer and the 130 millimeter multiple launch rocket system, the Army said.  Counter-artillery radar and unmanned aerial vehicles were also brought in for the exercise, along with naval warships."By using the simulated land-naval artillery drill in the East Sea region, the military could double-check its combat readiness against any kind of provocation by the enemy at any time," the Army said in a statement.North Korea "can engage in unexpected provocations in an unexpected manner at any tim

Apr 4, 2016

Can Seoul, Tokyo share intelligence about N. Korea?

By Yi Whan-wooSouth Korean and Japanese officials recently participated in a missile defense exercise led by the United States and practiced sharing intelligence on their common enemy — North Korea, the Seoul military source said Sunday.This prompted speculation that Seoul and Tokyo are preparing to resume talks on a bilateral military intelligence pact, which has been suspended for years due to conflicts over history-related issues.Military officials here said the two Asian neighbors operated a joint communication channel in the Nimble Titan 16 exercise aimed at bolstering cooperation among about 20 U.S. allies to deter North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) attacks.They said the U.S. military officials “strongly called on” Seoul and Tokyo to team up in carrying out three major missions — information sharing, offense operations and anticipatory self-defense — during the five-day war game starting Feb. 1.The revelation came after the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan met Thursday and discussed issues on stalled negotiati

Apr 3, 2016

S. Korea restarts project to launch 5 military satellites

South Korea plans to kick start a program to send five satellites into orbit by 2022 which will allow the military to keep close tabs on North Korea, defense officials said Thursday.The project, dubbed "425 project," has been stalled for a year amid budget limitations, with the National Assembly allocating only 2 billion won (US$1.7 million) in the 2016 budget out of 64.3 billion won requested by the defense ministry."The ministry has set its sights on reaching a contract within the latter half of this year," a defense official said. "The timing of the project's kickoff has been delayed by one year ... but we will follow through with the goal to complete the project within the target date," he noted.Under the project, the military plans to launch five reconnaissance satellites by 2022 that have onboard cameras capable of taking clear images of an object on the Earth's surface with a diameter of 0.3-0.5 meters.Four of satellites will also be equipped with all-weather synthetic aperture radar, while one will carry electronic optics and infrared surveillance equipment.With the new satel

Mar 31, 2016

S. Korean F-16D fighter jet crashes, 2 pilots eject safely

A South Korean F-16D fighter jet crashed during an air strike exercise on Wednesday, but the two pilots safely ejected from the stricken plane, the Air Force said.After a sudden engine failure, the combat airplane plunged into an uninhabited hill in Cheongsong, 322 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 4:06 p.m., according to the Air Force.The crash did not result in any civilian-related damage, although it caused a bush fire. The ejected pilots were unhurt, the Air Force said in a brief press release.The single-engine jet from the Air Force's fighter wing based in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, was conducting an air-to-ground strike drill when the accident took place, it said."The Air Force is investigating the exact cause of the accident after setting up an emergency accident handling committee," according to the Air Force.A firefighting helicopter was sent to the accident site to put out the fire, it also said. (Yonhap)

Mar 30, 2016
S. Korean F-16D fighter jet crashes, 2 pilots eject safely
  • N. Korea hints at 'second march of hardship'
  • N. Korea trying to develop new medium-range solid-fuel missile: US expert
  • Defense chief calls for heightened readiness against possible N. Korea provocations
  • S. Korea to develop tactical, guided weapons to destroy N. Korean artillery

Defense chief calls for heightened readiness against possible N. Korea provocations

Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Wednesday urged the military to maintain a state of heightened readiness against possible North Korean provocations during President Park Geun-hye's overseas trip this week.Park left for a two-nation visit earlier in the day, which will take her to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit as well as Mexico where bilateral talks are planned. Park is scheduled to return home next week.Han "called for thorough military preparedness during the president's state visit," ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said."While maintaining a heightened alert posture, all military units should be mentally and physically ready to complete their missions," the defense chief was quoted as saying.South Korea is on unusually high alert against North Korean military provocations since the communist country ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric over an ongoing joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington.North Korea threatened to engulf Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office-cum-residence, into a sea of fire last week as it continued to mount military threats. (Yonhap)

Mar 30, 2016
  • S. Korean F-16D fighter jet crashes, 2 pilots eject safely

S. Korea to develop guided munitions to counter N. Korea's multiple rocket launchers

South Korea plans to develop ground-to-ground guided munitions to better fend off threats posed by North Korea's latest multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), the Ministry of National Defense said in its five-year defense plan on Wednesday.North Korea's MLRS has emerged as one of the most imminent security threats facing South Korea since the communist country announced what it claimed was the final test of a new high-caliber multiple rocket launcher earlier in the month.With a range of 200 kilometers, the 300-millimeter-caliber multiple rocket launchers can put roughly half of South Korea within its range.In March alone, North Korea fired the multiple rocket launchers at least on three occasions, escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.The ground-to-ground counter-artillery guided munitions, South Korea plans to develop, will have a range of 120 kilometers and be tasked with destroying North Korea's multiple rocket launchers and other long-range artillery weapons, according to the defense plan for 2017-2021.The military has test-fired the new weapon several times and plans to fi

Mar 30, 2016

US rejects Trump accusations that S. Korea gets defense free ride

U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert on Monday dismissed accusations by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump that South Korea is paying little to keep American troops on its soil.Without naming Trump, Lippert cited various reasons why the allegations aren't true, including the fact that South Korea shoulders 55 percent of all non-personnel costs and increases its defense spending by 3 to 5 percent annually."We feel very good about the resource sharing that we and the Republic of Korea do together as an alliance," the ambassador said during a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. "It is remarkable."Lippert was responding to a request for comments on a "U.S. political candidate's" contentions that the country receives little from South Korea in exchange for its support.Trump has made repeated claims that South Korea is getting a free ride on defense, saying recently that the U.S. is "constantly sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games" but being "reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing." He also told The New York Ti

Mar 29, 2016
  • Trump's remarks fuel debate over S. Korea's nuclear armament
  • Korea in talks with Donald Trump over foreign policy

Lippert rejects Trump accusations that S. Korea gets defense free ride

U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert on Monday dismissed accusations by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump that South Korea is paying little to keep American troops on its soil.Without naming Trump, Lippert cited various reasons why the allegations aren't true, including the fact that South Korea shoulders 55 percent of all non-personnel costs and increases its defense spending by 3 to 5 percent annually."We feel very good about the resource sharing that we and the Republic of Korea do together as an alliance," the ambassador said during a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. "It is remarkable."Trump has made repeated claims that South Korea is getting a defense free ride, saying recently that the U.S. is "constantly sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games" but being "reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing."About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean aggression, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the divided peninsula still

Mar 28, 2016
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