Defense Minister Suh Wook and Gen. Won In-choul, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received their first doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday as they prepared to travel overseas. Suh is taking part in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 4-5, while Won will attend a change-of-command ceremony for the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii later this month. There Won will meet with his US and Japanese counterparts to discuss the expansion of military ties. South Korea&

South Korea and Indonesia will soon resume work on their joint fighter jet project, as Indonesia works to catch up on its already late payments and return engineers to production lines here, Korea’s arms procurement agency said Thursday. The Indonesian defense minister, who took part in the rollout ceremony here on April 9, when Korea revealed a prototype jet, agreed to work out a plan for the resumption of the project, saying Indonesia remains committed to the joint work, a senior agency

South Korea and Indonesia will soon resume talks about their joint fighter jet development project, an official said, after Indonesia's defense minister attended the jet's prototype unveiling ceremony in a show of commitment to the project. Indonesia is a partner for the 8.8 trillion won ($7.9 billion) project, called IF-X in the country, but doubts have grown over Jakarta's commitment to the joint program after the Southeast Asian country stopped making payments for the 20 percent of the total

An artificial intelligence (AI)-based security system will be set up at a military unit guarding the eastern coastal border, the defense ministry said Thursday, after a North Korean man crossed the border undetected earlier this year. The North Korean man swam ashore in the South in the eastern border town of Goseong on Feb. 16. He was caught on the military surveillance cameras 10 times but soldiers failed to notice eight of them even after alarm bells rang. Under the plan reported to Defens

Two Army soldiers and a Marine have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. A soldier in Namyangju, northeast of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after a virus case was reported at his unit. Of 64 troops tested following the initial case, 62 have tested negative while the other soldier is waiting for results, according to the ministry. Another soldier based in Paju, just north of the capital, was found to have been infected while away from h

S. Korea prepares to fly a homegrown fighter despite challenges

A Navy officer and three Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The Navy officer in Incheon, west of Seoul, was found to have contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine after a family member was confirmed infected, according to the ministry. The Army soldiers -- one each in the central city of Nonsan; Goyang, just north of Seoul; and Namyangju, northeast of the capital -- were infected with the virus after vacation. The latest cases rais

US Forces Korea (USFK) said Wednesday it is suspending the administration of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine to its members following US health authorities' recommendation to pause its use amid concerns over blood clot cases. "Following some rare instances of blood clotting in USA based individuals who recently received the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine -- and out of an abundance of caution to protect the force based on a joint recommendation by the US FDA and CDC, and D

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Nam Yeong-shin vowed Tuesday to accelerate the establishment of a drone robot-based combat system to enhance its capabilities in evolving battle environments. "The dronebot combat system will be one of the Army's core capabilities in the future. We will strive further for its early deployment in close cooperation with the government, related industries and the academic circle," Nam said during a forum on military drones held at the military headquarters in the

An Army officer and a soldier tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday, the latest in a series of infections among service members across the nation. The officer stationed in the southeastern city of Gyeongsan was confirmed to have been infected after showing symptoms while on vacation, according to the ministry. The soldier of an Army unit in the eastern city of Wonju also underwent a COVID-19 test after coming into close contact with a civilian, who later

South Korea’s first homegrown fighter jet, the KF-21 Boramae, will be ready to fly with weapons aboard by 2028, the arms procurement agency said Sunday. “We will come up with air-to-air missiles by 2026 and air-to-surface missiles by 2028,” the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said. The fighter jet, whose prototype was revealed to the public Friday, will have to go through flight tests through 2026 and become combat ready by 2032. It provides an opportunity for Kore

The defense ministry on Monday extended the current social distancing rules for the military, which allow service members to take vacation in a limited manner, for three weeks. The Level 2 scheme, which was supposed to expire Sunday, will be in place until May 2 in line with the government's guidance, according to the ministry. Under the Level 2 scheme, troops are allowed to go on vacation while strictly adhering to antivirus measures, such as a mandatory quarantine and coronavirus tests. Up t

An Army soldier has tested positive for the new coronavirus after a vacation, the defense ministry said Friday. The soldier, based in Yanggu, some 175 kilometers northeast of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine upon returning from a vacation, according to the ministry. Some 40 people at the base who had contact with the soldier have all tested negative. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 671. Nationw

An American service member and a South Korean contractor working for US Forces Korea (USFK) have tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to the US military. The service member, on a temporary duty to USFK, was confirmed Wednesday to have contracted COVID-19 in a virus test conducted prior to his return to his permanent duty station off the Korean Peninsula, it said. On the same day, a South Korean contractor who works at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, was

The South Korean and Indonesian defense chiefs said that their deal to build Korea’s first homegrown fighter jets together represents a relationship based on trust, and that they should build on the legacy to expand exchanges, at a face-to-face meeting in Seoul on Thursday. The KF-X program, in which Indonesia seeks a 20 percent share and technology know-how while Korea holds the rest, is set to reveal its prototype jet early this month -- but Indonesia has so far paid just $22 milli