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Defense

Korea, US to hold defense consultations

Senior military officials of Korea and the United States will meet this week to prepare for next month's defense ministerial meeting, which will focus on major alliance issues and North Korea, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday. The Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) is an overarching structure that includes a series of alliance-related meetings such as the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee, the Strategic Alliance 2015 Working Group and the Security Policy Initiative. The two allies held the inaugural meeting in April in Washington. During the two-day meeting that begins in Seoul on Wednesday, Lim Kwan-bin, South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, will have talks with his U.S. counterparts, including David Helvey, the acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, and Bradley Roberts, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, the ministry said. Their meeting comes as the defense ministers of the two sides are expected to meet at the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in late October to discuss

Sep 11, 2012

Korea to deploy indigenous surface-to-air guided missiles in 2015

Korea plans to produce indigenously-developed surface-to-air guided missiles next year to gradually deliver them to the military starting in 2015, military sources said Monday. The medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, called "Cheongung" (Iron Hawk), was unveiled last year after a five-year R&D program by a consortium of 15 Korean defense firms in a bid to beef up the country's air and missile defense. The state-run Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA) plans to sign a deal later this year to enter into production next year if the proposal is approved in a meeting slated for Tuesday, a senior military official said. "(The military) will begin fielding the missiles starting in 2015 and complete it by 2018 or 2019," the official said, asking for anonymity, as he is not authorized to talk to the media. Cheongung can intercept targets at an altitude of up to 15 kilometers and at a range of about 40 km, and simultaneously attack several targets with a multiple radar system. (Yonhap)

Sep 10, 2012

Korea holds defense drills near Dokdo

Korea on Friday conducted defense drills in waters near the easternmost islets of Dokdo to prepare for any situation in which foreigners trespass in the territorial waters, amid a continued diplomatic standoff with Japan. The joint operation by Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard was held under a scenario in which the maritime police play a leading role if citizens of other countries attempt to approach and illegally land on the islets. The training started at 8 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m., according to senior military sources. After the one-day training, the Navy will hold their own regular drills in the East Sea through Monday, they noted. "The exercise was carried out under the scenario in which the Coast Guard took a leading role in repelling foreign civilians invading territorial waters near Dokdo or trying to land on Dokdo," Col. Lee Bung-woo, the Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, said. "The military provided support for the Coast Guard during the operation." Later Friday, Kurai Takashi, Japan's deputy chief of mission in Seoul, visited Seoul's foreign ministry to p

Sep 7, 2012

Military finds land mines swept from NK near sea border

Korea's military has discovered suspected land mines in wooden boxes that were believed to have washed from North Korea after heavy rains near the tense Yellow Sea border, a military official said Thursday. The official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff advised fishermen near the sea border to keep alert and report to nearby police or military units if they detect any objects believed to be such mines. "We detected that objects believed to be land mines in wooden boxes were floating in the water near the Northern Limit Line," the official said on the condition of anonymity, referring the de-facto Yellow Sea border between the two Koreas. Since last week, South Korean soldiers have continued to search for North Korean land mines apparently swept here from the North by heavy rains. In 2010, a South Korean man died when a North Korean land mine in a wooden box he had picked up from a river went off in the border town of Yeoncheon, about 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul. Torrential rains have been reported north of the border in recent weeks, prompting the North to discharg

Sep 6, 2012

Military to provide improved bullet-proof vests next year

The military will distribute lighter, stronger bullet-proof vests to front-line troops starting next year to better guard them against the latest weapons, the defense ministry said Thursday. A task force team under the ministry has been developing a multi-functional flak vest to make it lighter and more durable, using the latest textile and ceramic technology, the ministry said. Some layers of the present vests were penetrated by side arms used by North Korea, it said. The new gear is designed to guard against major North Korean arms, including the AK-74, and is easy to put on and take off depending on operations. It can add bullet-proof materials on the front and back as well as the shoulders to protect a wider portion of the body. "The ministry will gradually distribute the bullet-proof vests for combat units on the front-line from the first half of next year," the ministry said in a release ahead of a forum on the issue. "A research and development program of multi-functional bullet-proof jackets has been underway to make it lighter and durable." The bullet-resistant

Sep 6, 2012

Navy unveils first Korean-made salvage and rescue ship

The Navy on Tuesday unveiled Korea's first indigenously built rescue and salvage ship (RAS), after two years of development for rescue operations at sea. The 3,500-ton ATS-II ship was built to rescue stricken ships and tow away ships damaged because of enemy action or engine failure and to provide aid in the cleanup of oil spills and ocean accidents, the Navy said. The state-run Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. have jointly developed the ship since October 2010, months after a South Korean warship sank after being hit by a North Korean torpedo attack, killing 46 sailors on board. The ship is 107.5 meters long and 16.8 meters wide and can sail up to 21 kts. It can also draw up to 570-ton high-speed guided missiles and tow up to 15,000-ton ships, it noted. The ship is also equipped with an underwater remotely operated vehicle and side scan sonar, as well as a flight deck and supporting equipment for manned diving operations. Named after the southern coastal town of Tongyeong, where South Korea first launched lan

Sep 4, 2012

Park says Korea-China cooperation needed to transform N. Korea

The ruling Saenuri Party's presidential candidate Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that South Korea and China should work together to help transform North Korea into a responsible member of the international community. In a meeting with Chen Zhili, the vice chairwoman of the standing committee of China's National People's Congress, and one of the nation's most senior female politicians, Park claimed North Korea cannot pull off economic growth without Seoul's assistance. She added closer ties between Seoul and Beijing could lead the isolationist country to become more accountable for its actions. "North Korea should be persuaded to follow a peaceful path not only for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula but for the sake of Northeast Asia as a whole," she told Chen at the meeting held at the National Assembly in Seoul. The five-term lawmaker, who won her party's presidential candidacy on Aug. 20, said South Korea is in a precarious security situation with North Korea having acquired nuclear weapons technology. "With the nuclear threat looming over our heads it is hard

Sep 4, 2012

Dokdo defense drill to be held without landing operations: source

Korea will conduct a scaled-back military exercise in waters near the easternmost islets of Dokdo later this week with no Marine Corps landing maneuvers on the islets, a senior military source said Monday. The decision came as tensions between South Korea and Japan have been running high over Dokdo since President Lee Myung-bak made an unprecedented visit to the East Sea islets that Japan has claimed as its territory. Despite the tensions, Seoul earlier announced that it will go ahead with a four-day biannual drill in waters near Dokdo set to kick off Friday, where the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard will conduct a joint operation to repel an encroaching vessel. Previous exercises sometimes involved Marines rappelling onto the islets from helicopters if the weather was right. But this year's drills won't include any landing operations, a senior military official said. The Coast Guard will play a leading role in defending Dokdo under this year's scenario, while the military will provide support in practicing for a situation where civilians illegally land on the isle

Sep 3, 2012

Korea to hold defense talks with Sweden, Norway

Korea will hold working-level defense talks with Sweden and Norway this week to expand cooperation in peacekeeping operations and the defense industry with the European nations, the defense ministry said Monday. A Korean delegation led by Choi Hong-ki, the ministry's international policy director, will visit Sweden's defense ministry on Tuesday for cooperation talks with Maj. Gen. Stig Christer Lidstrom. On Friday, the delegation will meet Norwegian Defense Minister Espen Barth Eide to discuss regional security issues and increase military ties between the two nations. "This trip is expected to help (South Korea) expand military diplomacy and defense ties with major northern European nations," the ministry said in a release. Sweden and Norway provided South Korea with medical assistance during the 1950-53 Korean War against invading troops from North Korea. (Yonhap)

Sep 3, 2012

US approves use of chase flights, telemetry to test Lockheed's F-35A

The U.S. government has approved Korea's request to perform chase flights and use a wireless data transfer system to test Lockheed Martin's F-35A, one of three fighter jets bidding for a multi-billion dollar project, a senior Seoul official said Wednesday. American aerospace giant Lockheed is competing with fellow U.S. firm Boeing and Europe-based multinational defense group EADS to win the state-funded fighter jet deal worth upward of 8.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion). South Korea plans to purchase 60 fighter jets by 2021 to replace the Air Force's aging fleet. To conduct the flight tests, the South Korean Air Force has asked the bidders if its pilots can use telemetry and pursuit planes to measure the function of each model. Boeing and EADS gave permission for South Korean pilots to test the planes, but Lockheed Martin had been reluctant to give the green light. Ahead of a test slated for early September in its homeland, the U.S. Department of Defense has sent a letter allowing Korean test pilots to use the testing methods, a senior military official said. "This letter

Aug 29, 2012
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