South Korea - The Korea Times

Military Monitoring 50 Spy Suspects

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The military is closely monitoring about 50 soldiers suspected of conducting spy activities or believed to be highly exposed to North Korea's espionage operations in the South, an official of the Ministry of National Defense said Sunday. The remarks came a day after the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper released a picture of a memo taken during a hurriedly-arranged meeting of top military brass chaired by Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, following the arrest of a female North Korean spy suspect. The memo written by an unidentified official presumed to be a member of the Defense Security Command, the military's intelligence and counterespionage agency, says there are about 50 ``suspects who have infiltrated the (South Korean) military.'' Military authorities have investigated some 100 espionage cases involving South Korean soldiers, it says. The ministry official said, however, the word ``suspects'' doesn't necessarily mean they are active North Korean agents, like the arrested female spy, Won Jeong-hwa, who disguised herself as a North Korean def

Aug 31, 2008

S. Korea-US Joint Military Exercise Ends

South Korean and U.S. forces here ended their five-day joint exercise Friday, in which Seoul took sole command of its own troops for the first time. Korea led the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise for the first time to prepare for its takeover of wartime operational control of its armed forces from the U.S. military in 2012. A Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity that ``the exercise was very successful. We did find several loopholes we still need to work on, but this is one of the main purposes of the drill," according to Yonhap News Agency. About 56,000 South Korean troops and 10,000 American soldiers took part in the command and control, war-fighting exercise, aimed at improving interoperability between the two nations' forces. The wartime operational control, often called OPCON, of South Korean soldiers was handed to the commander of U.S. Forces Korea at the outset of the 1950-53 Korean War. jckim@koreatimes.co.kr

Aug 22, 2008

e-Passports To Be Issued From Aug. 25

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The government will issue electronic passports to citizens from Aug. 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Friday. Issuance of the e-passport is a key precondition to the country's joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) under which Koreans will be able to visit the United States for up to three months without first obtaining a visa. Those who want to stay in the United States longer than three months are required to obtain visas. The back cover of the e-passport contains an embedded microchip carrying the holder's basic personal information, including date of birth and any criminal record, to help deter forgery, a ministry official said. To get an e-passport, a person is required to apply for it in person by visiting municipal, ward or other local offices concerned. Application through travel agencies is not allowed, except for cases of persons under the age of 18 or those suffering serious illness. The application fee is 55,000 won. Travelers can use their existing passports unless they visit the United States.

Aug 22, 2008

Military Support Units to Be Merged

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter More than 4,000 non-combat soldiers serving in military welfare facilities such as hotels, snack bars and shops will be transferred to combat units beginning next year, according to the Ministry of National Defense Thursday. The move is part of the ministry's plan to merge ``welfare and service support'' units of the three military services to help improve the efficiency in managing welfare programs for men and women in uniform, it said in a news release. About 4 billion won will be saved annually from the integration, it said. To that end, the ministry plans to launch an integrated welfare and support unit Sept. 1. In the first phase, the unit will merge welfare facilities and funds currently managed by the Army, Navy and Air Force by the end of next year. In the second and last phase, the welfare and service support groups of the three branches will be dismantled by January 2010, it said. ``Through this streamlining process, the military will be able to provide more and better welfare support for soldiers. It will also help mai

Aug 21, 2008

No Progress in Nuclear Verification Protocol

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter A compromise is unlikely soon between the United States and North Korea on verifying the communist country's nuclear disarmament, a senior government official said Wednesday. Pyongyang remains stubborn on the verification system, and this has delayed its removal from the U.S. list of terrorism sponsoring states, the Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. North Korea's foreign ministry said it will increase vigilance against unjust U.S. demands over talks on ending the North's nuclear programs, claiming the ongoing South Korea-U.S. military exercises are aimed at launching a preemptive nuclear attack against the communist state, according to the Yonhap News Agency. ``The U.S. and North Korea are consulting on the verification protocol, but it seems difficult for the two sides to reach a compromise soon,'' the official told reporters. ``But I don't want to describe this situation as pessimistic since these kinds of difficulties are a kind of ritual when it comes to negotiations with North Korea.'' He said North Korea

Aug 20, 2008

Defense Minister Joins S. Korea-US Joint Drill

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee has been keeping a close eye on the ongoing simulated command-control exercise by South Korean and U.S. troops focused on preparing for Seoul's takeover of wartime operational control in 2012, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday. Since the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise began Monday, Lee has attended meeting of field commanders and observed the process of the drills at an underground bunker in the Capital Defense Command in Seoul, where Korea's independent operational command is established, the spokesman said. It is the first time that a defense minister, who mainly takes charge of administrative defense affairs, has participated in the annual training exercise, he said. In general, the joint military exercises by South Korean and U.S. forces are led by the South Korean Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The USFK chief concurrently serves as commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command. ``

Aug 19, 2008

S. Korea, US to Resume Talks on Defense Cost-Sharing Next Week

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korean and U.S. defense officials will meet in Seoul next week to discuss how to share joint defense costs for maintaining 28,000 American forces stationed on the Korean Peninsula, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday. The two sides are expected to engage in tug-of-war negotiations again following the first round of talks July 21 in Washington, D.C. During the Washington meeting, the U.S. reportedly called on South Korea to pay more to reach the 50-50 level in tune with Seoul's growing economy and increased responsibility for national defense. Washington also asked Seoul to allow it to use the burden-sharing funds to relocate its military bases to south of the Han River. Seoul has been skeptical about the proposals. It now wants to provide the U.S. military with funds and military equipment and materials on a case-by-case basis instead of offering a lump sum of cash in a bid to avoid domestic controversies over the defense cost-sharing issue. ``The burden-sharing talks are expected to contin

Aug 19, 2008

N. Korean Attack Will Lead to Reunification

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter If North Korea attacked South Korea, the communist state would be defeated and the two Koreas would be reunified eventually, the commander of the Eighth U.S. Army here said. ``There is no doubt, if the North Koreans decide to cause trouble, what the outcome will be. No doubt at all,'' Lt. Gen. Joseph Fil Jr. was quoted by the Stars and Stripes as saying. The remarks, made during an orientation Friday for U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools teachers new to South Korea, came ahead of the start of a large-scale computerized joint military exercise by South Korean and U.S. troops Monday. The five-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian is aimed at evaluating and improving interoperability between the two forces. South Korea leads this year's exercise, formerly known as Ulchi Focus Lens, for the first time to prepare for its takeover of wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S. military in 2012. To that end, the two sides are to run separate operational commands led by Gen. Kim Tae-young, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs

Aug 18, 2008

S. Korea to Build Human-Powered Plane

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Air Force plans to design and develop a man-powered aircraft next year to make South Korea the world's fifth country to run such a plane, the service said Tuesday. A team of seven professors and researchers from the Korea Air Force Academy has launched the project valued at $290,000 and will complete the design of the pedal-powered plane, it said. The team is to complete the development of a prototype between January and June next year for trial flights before the Seoul Air Show slated for October, it said. ``This project is part of our human being's long-standing challenge and dream to fly,'' said Choi Sung-ok leading the research team. ``Based upon our Air Force's spirit of challenge, we will make utmost efforts to achieve the goal and upgrade the Korean Air Force's global status.'' A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is a vehicle powered by direct human energy and the force of gravity; the thrust provided by the human may be the only source. Only four nations in the world ― the United States, Britain, Japan and Germany ― have succ

Aug 12, 2008

S. Korea to Ask China to Rectify Claim Over Ieodo

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The government will ask the Chinese government to rectify the description of South Korea's Ieodo Islet as Chinese on a Web site of a state agency of China, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Friday. The Web site states that the islet is China's, arguing it lies within China' 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The site also referred to the islet as ``Suyan Rock'' in Chinese. ``South Korea and China agreed in 2006 that the Ieodo Islet is a submerged rock, not an island, so that it would not be subject to a territorial dispute,'' the official told reporters, asking not to be named. ``The Internet site referring to Ieodo as Chinese territory is against the agreement. So, we will take necessary measures to rectify the territorial claim, including demanding the Chinese foreign ministry correct the record,'' he said. He dismissed the claim that Ieodo is in China's EEZ. ``Ieodo is located 81 nautical miles southwest of our island of Marado, and 147 nautical miles northeast of China. There is

Aug 8, 2008

Defense