South Korea - The Korea Times

Korea, US to meet this week over defense technology security

Korea and the U.S. are set to hold talks on defense technology security this week, officials said Thursday. The third annual Defense Technology Security Consultative Meeting (DTSCM) will be held on Hawaii from Thursday to Saturday, according to officials at the South's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Kwon Oh-bong, the vice commissioner of the DAPA, and James Hursch, the director of the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) under the Defense Department, will represent each side. "The two countries agreed that in addition to cooperation in defense industries, we need a separate dialogue channel on technology exchange and export control," a DAPA official said. Representatives at the meeting may also discuss the controversy of Korea's alleged unauthorized meddling of core U.S. technology on a Korean fighter jet. Last year, South Korean weapons developers came under suspicions that they had disassembled the Tiger Eye sensors suite in the Air Force's F-15K fighter, whose navigation systems and targeting pod devices contain U.S. military technol

Feb 9, 2012

Exclusive JCS admits improper use of ‘clean card‘

By Lee Tae-hoon Public relations officers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the nation’s top military decision-making body, admitted Wednesday of wrongfully using government issued credit cards to have drinks and sing at a Korean style karaoke. The officers said they made inflated payments at a restaurant, named Matsarang, in Yongsan, downtown Seoul to get cash during the daytime so that they could use the money to go to a karaoke bar, called Oasis, at night. Oasis is located next to the restaurant. “It’s true that some business expenses of the JCS public relations (PR) office have been illicitly used,” spokesman Col. Lee Boong-woo acknowledged. “Unlawfully using the card to get money for a further session of drinking at another location has long been a common practice. We have failed to eliminate it, but we assure you that it won’t happen again.” Korea introduced the so-called “clean card system,” government issued credit cards with clear guidelines for use, in 2005. Officials using clean cards are barred from making payments at entertainment facilities, suc

Feb 8, 2012

Korean Army academy, West Point to exchange professors

Army academies of Korea and the U.S. will begin exchanging professors for the first time starting later this year, officials said Tuesday. According to Korean officials, the Korea Military Academy (KMA) and the U.S. Military Academy, also known as West Point, reached a partnership agreement on Jan. 16, when the U.S. Army LTG. David H. Huntoon, the superintendent at West Point, visited the KMA for the first time. He and Korean Army LTG. Park Jong-sun, the head of the KMA, also agreed to pursue the professor exchange program, officials added. Park and Huntoon will sign a preliminary agreement on the program after the U.S. defense department approves the plan by around March or April, according to officials. One Army official here said if the preliminary pact is signed in the first half of this year, then the institutes could begin exchanging professors starting in the latter half. The two countries first discussed professor exchanges in 1999 but talks were put on hold following the start of the war in Iraq, among other pressing security issues. They went back to the tabl

Feb 7, 2012

Army unit orders ’pro-NK’ apps be deleted, inspects individual phones

An Army unit recently ordered its officers with smartphones to delete applications considered pro-North Korea and critical of the South Korean government, the second such crackdown revealed in the past week, officials said Monday. According to officials, the commander of the Sixth Army Corps handed down the order to a subordinate unit on Jan. 17, with a list of four pro-North Korean apps and six apps critical of the Lee Myung-bak administration. The belated disclosure comes on the heels of a similar order made by another Army unit, under the Army Logistics Command, which was revealed last Friday. Officers there were told to delete and not to download smartphone applications considered pro-North Korea. The Sixth Army Corps' list of critical apps includes "Naneun Ggomsuda," or "I'm a Petty-minded Creep," a political satire program known for its hard-hitting criticism of the Lee government. Other designated apps include "Smart Card," which offers criticism of Seoul's policy on unification, and "North Korea World," which provides travel information for North Korea. Earlier

Feb 6, 2012

Korean Air Force cadet tops class in US academy

A Korean cadet studying at the U.S. Air Force Academy was at the top of his class in the first semester, the Air Force here said Thursday. The 21-year-old Choi Jung-gyu received a perfect 4.0 grade point average, after scoring straight A's in his five courses, which include engineering, computer science and behavioral science. Choi, who entered the Korean Air Force Academy in 2010, joined the U.S. institution in August last year and is majoring in aeronautical engineering, officials here said. According to officials, Choi was the only one among 1,066 cadets in his class to receive perfect marks. They said of those 1,000-plus cadets, about 100 are from overseas, from such countries as Poland, Colombia, Singapore and the Philippines, and take commissioned programs. Korea first sent Air Force cadets to the U.S. academy in 1968 and 21 have taken courses there so far, officials added. "I am pleased that I've been able to prove the excellence of the Korean Air Force Academy," Choi said through a statement by the Air Force here. "I will continue to do my best over the remaining thr

Feb 2, 2012

Korean officers to train at US army academy

Dozens of Korean non-commissioned officers (NCOs) will receive leadership training at a U.S. army base in Korea this spring, officials said Tuesday. The Army said 65 NCOs will enter a four-week program starting in April at the Eighth U.S. Army Wightman Non-Commissioned Officers Academy. The academy is based in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul. According to Korean officials, 50 NCOs will enter the academy's "Warrior Leader Course," and 15 more will join the "Instructor Training Course." For the leader course, the Army will select top NCOs who are squad leaders or deputy leaders of platoons in battalion-sized or smaller units. The instructor course will be open to outstanding NCOs serving as drill instructors at the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy or Korea Army Training Center. The Army said the selected NCOs will enter the programs in different groups every month starting in April. They will also be required to take on-line English language courses beforehand. "By training at the Eighth U.S. Army, our officers will be able to acquire practical combat skills

Jan 31, 2012

Exclusive Russia pulls out of Korea fighter project

Sweden mulls taking part in FX-III race with Gripen By Lee Tae-hoon Russia will not enter Korea’s advanced jet acquisition project as none of its aircraft manufacturers including Sukhoi expressed their intent to join the heated competition, officials here said. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) listed Sukhoi’s T-50 PAK-FA in July last year as one of the four contenders to have expressed an interest in joining the open bidding worth 8.29 trillion won ($7.3 billion) along with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS). ``No Russian firm submitted an application to attend the program’s explanatory session, which was a prerequisite to participate, by the Friday registration deadline,” a spokesman of DAPA said. He noted that a representative from Swedish company Saab, which has been searching for additional export orders for its Gripen multirole fighters, successfully filed an application for the mandatory session along with Boeing, Lockheed Martine and EADS. “It is too early to tell whether Saab is seri

Jan 29, 2012

Seoul drops plan to buy Global Hawk UAV

By Lee Tae-hoon Korea is scrapping its plan to purchase the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the United States due to budget constraints, the head of the country’s arms procurement agency said in a recent interview. Seoul had sought to introduce four of the U.S.-made high-altitude reconnaissance UAVs and one complete ground control system after Washington decided to phase out its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in Korea from 2012. “We cannot buy the drones at the price the United States is offering them,” Noh Dae-lae, commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said. He said DAPA received revised price and availability (P&A) estimates from the Pentagon in November last year for the acquisition of the advanced surveillance system. “Washington offered to sell the Global Hawk system at $442 million to Seoul in September 2009 when the latter sent a letter of request for P&A data. But in November 2011, it informed us that the price was $899 million,” Noh said. “The price is so high that it is impossib

Jan 26, 2012

Israel to announce whether to buy Korean trainer jets

Israel is set to announce this month whether it will purchase Korean-built trainer jets to replace an aging fleet in its air force, Seoul officials said Wednesday. Israel will make the announcement this Sunday, officials at the state Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said. Israel is trying to choose between the T-50 Golden Eagle trainer jet, manufactured by Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI), and the M-346 Master, built by Italian firm Alenia Aermacchi. The Israeli air force has been seeking to phase out its fleet of U.S.-built A-4 Skyhawk trainer jets. The procurement deal is reportedly worth $1 billion. "We can't predict the result," a DAPA official said. "We're having intense negotiations with Israel as we speak." Exporting the T-50, South Korea's first supersonic trainer jet, to Israel would open the door for KAI to also market it to other countries, such as Chile and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), experts have said. South Korea reached a $400 million deal with Indonesia last May to sell it T-50s, marking the first export of the trainer plane. Exper

Jan 25, 2012

Air Force takes part in US-led combat exercise

The Korean Air Force is taking part in a U.S.-led, multinational aerial combat exercise this month, officials said Wednesday. Six F-15K fighter jets have been training with the U.S. and Saudi Arabian air forces in the Red Flag exercise. It began last Sunday and will continue until Feb. 4 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, officials said. The exercise will include simulated air interdiction drills, with U.S. fighter aircraft as enemy planes, and live-fire drills using laser guided bombs and satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), officials said. "The exercise will help enhance our pilots' capabilities to execute combined operations," said Col. Yoon Je-hoon, the head of the South Korean delegation. "Our participation in Red Flag further cements the strong alliance between South Korea and the U.S. and demonstrates our strong joint aerial defense." Korea is participating in Red Flag for the first time since 2008. The exercise began in 1975, and South Korea has also taken part in 1979, 1980, 1983, 1990 and 1992. Allies of the U.S. participate in Red Flag to