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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.

Korean, US fighter jets practice pilot rescue in aerial maneuver

Fighter jets from the Korean and U.S. air forces staged intensive exercises Tuesday simulating search and rescue missions of pilots in war situations, Air Force officials said Tuesday. The Tuesday exercises are part of annual, 12-day joint aerial maneuvers by the two air forces to test their ability to fight against North Korea in event of war, as the North's saber-rattling increases. About 50 warplanes, including a U.S. aerial refueling aircraft, are taking part in the Max Thunder exercise, which will run through Friday. On Tuesday, a squadron of "enemy" forces including Korean F-15K and F-5F fighters engaged with U.S. warplanes labeled the "friendlies" in the exercises, Air Force officials said. Gen. Park Shin-kyu, commander of the South Korean Air Force Operations Command, flew an F-5F fighter, while Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force flew a U.S. fighter jet Tuesday, according to the officials. Hundreds of pilots were mobilized for the drill over the southwestern airspace of the Korean Peninsula. Training missions include simulatin

May 15, 2012

US lawmakers push for tactical nukes in Korea

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A U.S. congressional committee is pressuring the Obama administration to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula. The House Armed Services Committee, dominated by Republicans, approved an amendment to the fiscal 2013 national defense authorization bill Thursday that calls for the re-introduction of the sensitive weapons to South Korea, according to Foreign Policy magazine. It also would require Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to submit a report on the feasibility and logistics of redeploying nuclear weapons to South Korea, added the magazine. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), who reportedly sponsored the amendment, and his staff were not available to confirm the report. "We in the last many years have appealed to China to help us negotiate with North Korea to bring them in line in the quest for peace in the world... China has now embarked on selling nuclear components to North Korea," Franks was quoted as saying in the committee's markup. The North has carried out two underground nuclear tests, in 2

May 12, 2012

Korea, US launch air defense exercise

The South Korean and U.S. air forces began a large-scale, regular joint maneuver Monday to sharpen their ability to work together in simulated war situations, officials said, amid growing concerns that North Korea may conduct a third nuclear test. About 60 warplanes from the allies, including a U.S. aerial refueling aircraft, are taking part in the annual Max Thunder exercise, which will run through May 18, Seoul's military officials said. Hundreds of pilots were mobilized for the drill over the southwestern airspace of the Korean Peninsula, Air Force officials said. Training missions include simulating air battles with four or eight jets, air refueling involving a KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft and neutralizing an enemy's air defense system in case of an all-out war, officials said. "The drill will display our readiness and joint air firepower with the U.S. that can immediately retaliate in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula," an Air Force official said. There is growing speculation that North Korea may stage another provocation, including

May 7, 2012

Korea deploys new missile capable of hitting anywhere in NK

South Korea has deployed a new long-range cruise missile that puts nuclear and missile sites in the entire North Korean territory within striking distance, defense ministry officials said Thursday, amid growing security jitters sparked by the North's botched rocket launch. The new, home-grown cruise missile has a range of "more than 1,000 kilometers and can immediately strike anywhere in North Korea," said Maj. Gen. Shin Won-sik, the senior official in charge of policy planning at the ministry. "While maintaining unwavering readiness with this longer-range weaponry, our military will firmly and thoroughly retaliate if North Korea conducts a reckless provocation." Shin did not give the name of the new cruise missile, apparently for an intelligence matter, but South Korea has started manufacturing the surface-to-surface Hyunmu-3C with a range of up to 1,500 km since 2010. The previous versions of Hyunmu-3A and Hyunmu-3B, with a range of 500 km and 1,000 km each, were put into service. Together with the new cruise missile, the military has also deployed a new tactica

Apr 19, 2012

S. Korea, US looking at ‘all options‘ against NK provocations

South Korea and the United States are looking at "all options" to prevent any further provocations from North Korea following the botched launch of a long-range rocket last week, the top U.S. military commander in Asia and the Pacific said Tuesday. Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, made the remarks at a meeting with South Korean defense journalists in Seoul, four days after the North's rocket launch ended in failure and prompted speculation that Pyongyang may conduct a nuclear test in an effort to save face. "It's true that in the past that North Korean government has followed this type of missile launch with further provocations," Locklear said. "It is my hope that this will not occur, but in this case hope is not enough and I can assure you that we will work very closely with the allies in this region to monitor the situation in North Korea to prevent future provocations," he said. Asked about some opinions in the U.S. over the need for a surgical strike against missile bases and nuclear test sites in North Korea, Locklear replied, "I don't th

Apr 18, 2012

‘Military vehicle displayed in NK parade may be Chinese-made‘

The transporter-erector-launcher that carried North Korea's new missile in a massive military parade in Pyongyang over the weekend is Chinese-made by design and possibly origin, experts said. The vehicle, which can transport and erect a missile for a launch, drew attention as it carried what is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile with a presumed range of up to 6,000 kilometers that is capable of reaching Alaska. The 16-wheel erector-launcher is apparently based on a design from the 9th Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, also known as the WoSang truck factory, said Ted Parsons of IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. The Chinese and North Korean vehicles "have the same windscreen design; the same four windscreen wiper configuration; the same door and handle design; a very similar grill area; almost the same front bumper lighting configuration; and the same design for the cabin steps," Parsons said in an emailed comment to Yonhap News Agency. Parsons said the Chinese company's involvement in North Korea's missile program would require app

Apr 17, 2012

Navy set to end search for debris from N. Korean rocket

The Navy is set to wrap up an operation on Tuesday to retrieve debris from North Korea's failed rocket launch, without finding any pieces presumed to be rocket fragments, defense ministry officials said. The North's Unha-3 long-range rocket exploded mid-air about two minutes after blast-off on Friday and disintegrated into some 20 pieces. The debris fell into international waters 100-150 kilometers off South Korea's west coast, officials said. More than 10 South Korean warships, equipped with sonar radars, and minesweepers have been scouring the Yellow Sea to recover the rocket debris since the North's botched launch, but the operation has made no progress, ministry officials said. "No debris has been found in the search operation so far," a senior ministry official said on the condition of anonymity, adding the operation will end as of 5:00 p.m. "The depth of the waters where the debris was believed to have landed is between 70 and 80 meters and there are high-turbidity zones, making it almost impossible to find any chunks of debris," the official said. If retrieve

Apr 17, 2012

Training and operation expert tapped as new Air Force chief

The government said Monday that Sung Il-hwan, an Air Force lieutenant general, has been tapped as the new chief of staff of the Air Force. The 58-year-old Sung, if approved at the Cabinet meeting slated for Tuesday, will succeed Park Jong-heon, who has served as Air Force chief since September 2010. Sung, who served as chief of the 17th Fighter Wing, principal of the Korea Air Force Academy, and chief of the Air Force Education and Training Command, is known as an expert in Air Force operations and education and training. He also has over 2,500 flying hours. "Lt. Gen. Sung is credited with considerable strategic insight and an operational command capability in preparation for future security environment," said a defense official.(Yonhap)

Apr 17, 2012

US fighter jet crashes in central Korea; no casualties reported

A U.S. fighter jet crashed into a rice paddy in central Korea on Wednesday during a routine training mission, but its lone pilot safely ejected, a police officer said Wednesday. The F-16 fighter jet went down in the county of Seocheon of South Chungcheong Province, about 235 kilometers south of Seoul, around noon, the officer said. The crash came as Korean and U.S. troops are in the midst of annual joint military drills. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. (Yonhap)

Mar 21, 2012

2 Korean Army officers to work for UN peacekeeping department

Two Korean Army officers will work for a United Nations department handling peacekeeping operations for the next two years, the defense ministry here said Tuesday. The ministry said Maj. Choi Sung-yi will serve as an evaluation officer under the office of military affairs at the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and Maj. Hong Jong-kil will be a planning officer at the DPKO's military planning service department. According to the ministry, Choi will monitor and assess peacekeeping operations in Africa, and Hong will be tasked with drafting operational concept for peacekeeping missions. Their terms will be for two years starting this Friday. "These officers were selected in December last year for their wealth of peacekeeping operations experience at the U.N. and their proficiency in English," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it had recommended about 10 officers to the U.N. The ministry said Choi had been on a peacekeeping team for Nepal from 2007 to 2008, and Hong had served in Georgia from 2004 to 2005 and worked on a team of observers to monito

Mar 13, 2012
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