South Korea - The Korea Times

US communication battalion to relocate to Camp Humphreys

A U.S. communication battalion stationed north of Seoul will soon relocate to a base south of the capital as part of a broader agreement to consolidate American military bases in South Korea, officials said Wednesday.Troops in the 304th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, which is based in Uijeongbu, are working to move to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, later this month, its public affairs office said in a statement."We are the first battalion-size element to make the move down south," said Lt. Col. Mark Parker, the battalion commander.The relocation comes under an agreement first reached in 2004 and then finalized last year to relocate most of the American military bases in and north of Seoul to Pyeongtaek by the end of 2016.When fully expanded, Camp Humphreys will transform into the main hub of the U.S. military in South Korea.After the communication battalion leaves the Uijeongbu base, the 23rd Chemical Battalion will move into the site and stay there temporarily until it moves to the new base in Pyeongtaek, officials said.The chemical battalion is re

Dec 27, 2012

US plans to sell Global Hawks to Korea for $1.2 bil.

WASHINGTON  (Yonhap) -- The Pentagon has formally informed Congress of a plan to sell four Global Hawk surveillance drones to South Korea, a related agency said Monday.  The deal under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, if sealed, would be worth up to US$1.2 billion (1.28 trillion won), according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) affiliated with the Department of Defense.It includes four RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk remotely-piloted aircrafts equipped with the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suites (EISS), associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support, added the DSCA.Such a notification to Congress is mandatory for FMS sales. Congress is expected to approve the plan, a diplomatic source said."The Republic of Korea (South Korea) needs this intelligence and surveillance capability to assume primary responsibility for intelligence gathering from the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command in 2015," the agency said in a press release.It was referring to Seoul's move to take over wartime operational control of its troops from Washington.The South Korean mi

Dec 25, 2012

Germany offers cruise missiles at half price

TAURUSBy Lee Tae-hoonA German-based defense company will offer to sell its cutting-edge air-to-ground stand alone cruise missiles to Seoul at almost half its 2009 initial offering price of 3.6 billion won ($3.4 million), multiple sources said Sunday.An industry source said TAURUS Systems GmbH (TSG) has decided to lower the price of a TAURUS missile to 2.2 billion won to overcome challenges that non-U.S. companies face in entering Korea’s growing defense market.“We acknowledge barriers in entering the Korean market as the United States, which has roughly 28.500 troops here, continues to exert political influence over military purchase deals,” he said.He also noted that TSG has expressed its intent to cut the price partly because of Korea’s willingness to increase the number of purchases from 177 to 200.Korea has attempted to introduce long-range, precision air-to-ground missiles since 2008 to allow its F-15 K fight jets to destroy North Korean ground targets, such as nuclear facilities and artillery hidden in caves.The plan, however, has been indefinitely postp

Dec 23, 2012

Rocket debris reveals NK's ICBM intention

A piece of North Korea’s long-range “Unha 3” rocket is lifted from waters off the west coast, Sunday, when the South Korean Navy announced it had retrieved three pieces of debris. / YonhapAfter examining a piece of the debris from a long-range rocket launched by North Korea, South Korean experts have concluded that the communist country in fact had tested its inter-continental ballistic missile technology, the defense ministry said Sunday.North Korea fired off a three-stage "Unha 3" rocket on Dec. 12, claiming that it was to put a satellite into orbit. The first stage of the rocket fell in the Yellow Sea off South Korea's west coast and the second stage in waters near the Philippines.Two days after the lift-off, South Korea's Navy retrieved a large cylindrical container 7.6 meters long and 2.4 meters in diameter which is believed to be the upper part of the first-stage rocket.After examining the 3.2-ton wreckage with the sign "Unha" written in Korean on it, a team of 42 South Korean military, rocket and missile experts has concluded that the wreckage is an oxidizer

Dec 23, 2012

Rocket debris reveals NK's ICBM intention

Korea officially delays fighter jet project to next year

Korea's weapons procurement agency said Monday that it will postpone a multi-billion dollar fighter jet project to next year to continue negotiations on price and other conditions.The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by Lockheed Martin, the F-15 SE Silent Eagle by Boeing and the Eurofighter by Europe's multinational defense group EADS have been bidding since last year for the 8.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion) contract to purchase 60 advanced jets. The DAPA had initially planned to pick a bidder in October, but many pointed out there is not enough time to pick a supplier that fits its requirements within the timeline. Ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election, it was widely expected that the project may come under the next government as negotiations with the three companies have been under way until lately.The Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA) held a meeting earlier in the day to officially announce the postponement of the plan, which was approved by Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin."It is hard to pick a bidder for the fighter jet project by the end of this year," the DAPA spokes

Dec 17, 2012

Korean-made chopper to undergo cold-weather testing

Korea will conduct cold-weather tests of its first homegrown helicopter in the U.S. state of Alaska between the year-end and early February of next year, a military source said Saturday.The "Surion" utility helicopter was developed by the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), with an investment by the government and launched in 2006.The military chopper, also intended for civilian use, made its successful maiden flight in March 2010."(We) plan to transfer the indigenous chopper, Surion, to Alaska and conduct the test flights," the source said, adding that the flights will be conducted from Dec. 24 to early February of next year.The KAI plans to move the Surions on a leased Russian transport plane, the source said, adding that the tests will be intended to find out whether the choppers can withstand extreme cold weather."The budget for the test flights will require around 4.2 billion won ($3.9 million)," the source said.The South Korean military aims to supply about 30 Surions to the Marine Corps between 2017 and early 2020, after remodeling them

Dec 15, 2012

Korea retrieves NK rocket's debris in Yellow Sea

North Korea went ahead with a rocket launch, Wednesday, despite international pressure not to do so. Its daring act came at a delicate time, just ahead of South Korea’s Dec. 19 presidential election. Candidates Park Geun-hyu and Moon Jae-in were engaged in rainy day campaigning Friday, while debris from the first stage of the North’s rocket has been retrieved and put on display. / YonhapThe Navy has retrieved the debris of North Korea's long-range rocket launched earlier this week and a joint investigation team will analyze it to get a glimpse of the communist state's rocket technology, the defense ministry here said Friday. Less than two hours after Wednesday's liftoff, a South Korean Aegis destroyer deployed in the Yellow Sea discovered an object, believed to be part of a fuel container from the first stage of the rocket, near the trajectory announced by the North."The Navy's Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle retrieved the debris of the rocket's first stage at 00:26 a.m. and was delivering it to the Second Command Fleet in Pyeongtaek," west of Seoul, a ministry official s

Dec 14, 2012

Korea retrieves NK rocket's debris in Yellow Sea

Defense chief says first, second stages of NK rocket separated successfully

Defense chief said there was successful separation of the first and second stages of North Korea's long-range rocket that was launched on Wednesday. "South Korea and the U.S. military are checking whether North Korea's rocket accurately entered orbit," Kim Kwan-jin told a Yonhap News reporter on his way back from an emergency national security meeting convened by President Lee Myung-bak. "Our radar has verified that (the rocket's) second stage separated."Kim said his government was waiting for the analysis of the third stage from related organizations to verify Pyongyang's announcement that the rocket successfully put a scientific satellite into orbit.Whether his military was ready for the Wednesday launch, Kim said, "We were always preparing."The launch was a surprise as the North had indicated technical problems with the rocket and recently extended its launch window to Dec. 29. Following the launch shortly before 10 a.m., Seoul's defense ministry said one part of the rocket fell into waters west of the Korean Peninsula and another part fell in the sea east of the Philippines. "Nor

Dec 12, 2012

NK successfully launches long-range rocket

S. Korea to deploy newly introduced radar ahead of NK rocket launch

South Korea will deploy newly-introduced missile defense radars as soon as acceptance testing is completed in order to better guard against North Korea's planned rocket launch, a military source said.South Korea brought in two Israeli-made "Green Pine" radars this year, one of them in August and the other last month, and has since been conducting tests to ensure they have no defects."Acceptance testing of the Green Pine radar No. 1 comes to an end today with a final assessment of 24-hour continuous operation," the source said. "It will be deployed immediately after the acceptance testing and will be in service when North Korea launches its long-range rocket."Testing of the second radar will be completed by mid-December and deployed thereafter, the source said.North Korea plans to launch a long-range rocket between Dec.10 and 22 to put what it claims to be an earth observation satellite into orbit. The communist nation has long used the pretext of satellite launches to disguise ballistic missile technology tests.The new advanced radars, capable of detecting targets at ranges of up to

Dec 5, 2012

Seoul to ditch US missile purchase

TaurusBy Lee Tae-hoonSeoul is considering eliminating a U.S. defense giant from its possible bidders for the purchase of 177 long-range air-to-surface cruise missiles due to Washington’s continued delay in issuing an export license, multiple sources said Tuesday.Korea has repeatedly expressed interest in the purchase of the Lockheed Martin’s the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs) since April 2008, but the United States has yet to issue a letter of offer and acceptance (LOA).An industry source said Korean defense officials pressured U.S. counterparts for the early approval of the arms sales during their meeting in Washington on Nov 15, but it was to no avail.    “We are ready to ditch our plan to negotiate with the United States for the possible purchase of JASSMs, if Germany-based Taurus Systems GmbH (TSG) offers its Taurus air-to-ground missiles at an attractive price,” a senior military official said.He underlined that officials from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) have been engaging in negotiations with TSG

Dec 4, 2012

Defense