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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.

Korea says THAAD 'helpful' to security

Beijing cautions against Seoul's moveBy Yi Whan-wooThe government said Friday that the terminal high altitude area defense (THAAD) system will help boost Korea’s national security and defense if it is deployed here by the United States.Seoul and Washington are likely to start negotiations soon over whether to deploy the advanced missile defense system to better counter North Korea’s threats.“We’re reviewing the technical elements of THAAD, including its tactical efficiency, on a working-level,” defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters. “We’ve been considering all possible means to defend the country against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats.”China expressed concerns about Korea’s move.“We hope that a related nation (South Korea) will deal with the case prudently,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. “A nation should take security of other countries into account when considering its own security.”Kim’s comment came after President Park Geun-hye and Defe

Jan 29, 2016
Korea says THAAD 'helpful' to security

Allies strengthen monitoring of missile launch site

By Yi Whan-wooSouth Korea, the United States and Japan are using all possible tactical reconnaissance assets, such as an Aegis destroyer and ground-based Green Pine radar, to monitor North Korea's possible launch of a ballistic missile, military officials said Friday.“The Navy has deployed an Aegis destroyer in the West Sea while the Green Pine radar is fully operational,” an official said on condition of anonymity. “The airborne Peace Eye early warning and control aircraft is also keeping a close watch on North Korea.”The move comes after increased activities at North Korea's main long-range rocket launch site in Tongchang-ri, which indicates that the secretive state may be preparing for a rocket launch.South Korea and other U.S.-led allies suspect North Korea's rocket program is merely a cover for a ballistic missile test.The authorities did not specify which of South Korea's three radar-equipped Aegis ships ― Sejong the Great, Yulgok Yi I and Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong ― has been dispatched.Commissioned in 2008, Sejong the Great, the lead ship of the t

Jan 29, 2016

S. Korea to join U.S.-led regional military drill in Thailand

South Korean combat forces will join a United States-led multinational military exercise to be held next month in Thailand, the Navy said Friday.Some 440 Navy and Marine soldiers will depart for Thailand on Saturday to join the Cobra Gold exercise, which will run from Feb. 6 through 19. It is an annual peacekeeping operation exercise, led by the U.S. Pacific Command and the Thailand military.In this year's gathering, some 7,900 forces will take part from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia beside the three countries, along with five warships, 24 armored vehicles and 35 airplanes. China, Britain, Australia and 13 other countries will join as observers. In 2002, South Korea joined the exercise, which was launched in 1982, as an observer before becoming a full-time member in 2010. For this year's exercise, South Korea will send the 4,900-ton Cheon Wang Bong amphibious landing ship and eight combat tanks.After arriving at the Sattahip port, the South Korean team will carry out drills in the fields of command post exercise, humanitarian civil assistance and field training exercise, a

Jan 29, 2016

South Korea, U.S. team up for joint Air Force exercise

Fighter pilots from South Korea and the United States have been conducting a four-day joint air drill aimed at better countering North Korea's provocations, South Korean Air Force said Thursday.The "Buddy Wing 16-1" training exercises, which kicked off on Tuesday, will run through Friday at an air base in Seosan, about 280 kilometers south of Seoul, according to South Korean Air Force.The joint air drill involves four F-16CM fighter planes from the 51st Fighter Wing of the U.S. Air Force and 14 South Korean KF-16 fighter aircraft from the 20th Fighter Wing, it added."The Buddy Wing program plays an important role in maintaining interoperability between our two air forces, which in turn helps maintain our alliance and ultimately the long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula," Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, said in a statement released by the U.S. Air Force.About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not in a peace treaty. (Yonhap)

Jan 28, 2016

U.S. Pacific commander voices support for Aegis Ashore in Hawaii to counter North Korea threats

The U.S. Pacific commander said Wednesday he supports the consideration of establishing an Aegis Ashore missile defense facility in Hawaii to help counter missile and nuclear threats from North Korea.The Aegis Ashore system is the land version of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system used on Navy cruisers and destroyers. There have been reports that the U.S. is considering turning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex in Kauai, Hawaii, into an operational facility."I've gone on record as talking about the Aegis Ashore facility in Hawaii. My point on that is it is something that we should consider," Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander U.S. Pacific Command, said during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "We have to weight all the pluses and minuses and all of that, when we're talking about the defense of the homeland, I think we should look at all the opportunities. The site in Hawaii may be a good opportunity," he said. "We shouldn't throw it out at first blush. I'm supportive of studying it further and then seeing where it goes."The comma

Jan 28, 2016

Attack drone to deploy in South Korea

/Screen captured from TwitterGeneral Atomics’ MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone will be deployed in Korea to improve the country’s defenses against North Korea.The announcement comes after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.The Gray Eagle is an upgraded version of the MQ-1 Predator. The Predator has proven its value during U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war against terror.U.S Forces Korea was going to deploy the Gray Eagle in 2017 but decided to introduce it this year.The drone can fly for 30 hours and has a maximum speed of 280 kilometers an hour.It can carry four missiles or bombs, including air-to ground-Hellfire missiles, air-to-air Stinger missiles and the Viper Strike guided bomb.The Gray Eagle, which costs about 2.5 billion won, came into service with the U.S. Army in 2009.

Jan 27, 2016
Attack drone to deploy in South Korea

Drones get laser weapon upgrade

/Screen caputred from TwitterThe U.S. military plans to mount laser weapons on drones to intercept ballistic missiles.A previous plan to put laser weapons on a Boeing 747 was abandoned four years ago because of flaws in the concept.This new project will allow the drones to intercept missiles from 20,000 meters above the ground and stay aloft for days.The military said the drones would be positioned above known launch sites so they could fire on enemy missiles the moment they were launched.Vice Admiral James Syring, who heads the Missile Defense Agency, said supplying the laser with enough power is the key to the new plan. 

Jan 27, 2016
Drones get laser weapon upgrade

South Korea to deploy 5,000-ton vessel to Ieodo

South Korea said Tuesday that it will deploy a 5,000-ton patrol vessel to the Seoul-controlled rock outcropping of Ieodo, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute with China.The newly built vessel will start patrolling the reef in April, according to an annual policy briefing by the Ministry of Public Safety and Security to President Park Geun-hye.The move comes as China has repeatedly laid claim to Ieodo, which lies within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries. Although international maritime law stipulates that a submerged rock cannot be claimed as territory by any country, South Korea effectively controls Ieodo, which is closer to it than any other country. Also, the ministry said it plans to deploy an airplane to Yangyang, an eastern coastal city, as part of efforts to swiftly deal with emergencies around the easternmost islets of Dokdo.The CN-235 fixed-wing airplane can fly for up to seven hours at a speed of 400 kilometers per hour and is fitted with a top-class scan radar, thermal equipment, flares and equipment for dropping lifeboats.Dokdo h

Jan 26, 2016

Navy chief inspects maritime combat readiness in East Sea

Navy chief ordered maritime forces Tuesday to stand with full combat readiness for the possibility of unexpected military provocations by North Korea."The enemy has always launched provocations in manners and timings that are hard for us to predict," Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Jung Ho-sup said during his visit to the 1st Fleet based on the east coast.Jung inspected the maritime defense posture of the maritime forces in the East Sea area during the visit which came after North Korea's latest nuclear test on Jan. 6 escalated military tensions on the Korean Peninsula."Forces should maintain a defense posture under which they could react immediately even in a highly unexpected emergency situation," the Navy chief said, aboard an Aegis destroyer patrolling the East Sea. "If the enemy's submarines launch provocations, do not fail to track and sink them," the admiral noted. (Yonhap)

Jan 26, 2016

Apache Guardian set to deploy on May

Apache Guardian (AH-64E) / Screen captured from TwitterThe South Korean military is reportedly planning to advance the deployment of AH-64E, Apache Guardian helicopters to increase national security.The AH-64E was formerly set to deploy in 2018 to replace the superannuated AH-1 Cobra. However, North Korea’s recent nuclear test has raised South Korean security concerns.It would deploy 36 AH-64E helicopters at the rate of at least two a month from May until February next year, media reports said.The AH-64E is widely known for its heavy armaments, which include 16 hellfire missiles, a 30mm machine gun, and its sophisticated Longbow fire control radar, which can locate up to 256 targets simultaneously within 50 kilometers.Eighteen AH-64E helicopters make up a battalion, and it is estimated that one battalion is capable of destroying 288 tanks.Other weapons to be deployed alongside the AH-64E would include the “Chun-moo” multiple rocket launcher, which has an 80-kilometer range and can accurately target North Korea’s long-range artillery from outside the North&rsqu

Jan 26, 2016
Apache Guardian set to deploy on May
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