Articles by Choi Si-young
Choi Si-young
siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com-
Defense chief flies to US to discuss wartime role transfer
South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook traveled to the United States on Tuesday to discuss the plan for Seoul to take over wartime operational control from Washington at an annual security meeting. Breaking with convention, Suh made the trip to Washington on Korea’s Multi Role Tanker Transport, an aerial refueling tanker, partly to display the Air Force’s growing prowess and partly to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus on a civilian flight. “The handover o
Defense Oct. 13, 2020
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Experts divided over NK’s missile technology
North Korea has revealed newer ballistic missiles, but experts are divided over whether the regime has secured the latest technology to mount multiple warheads atop the missiles. “It depends a little bit on how big it really is, but I would say this represents certainly the ability to put multiple nuclear warheads on a missile like this,” Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in the US told Voice of America on Monday. Pyongyang unveiled Saturday an inte
North Korea Oct. 12, 2020
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[Feature] Should BTS get military exemption?
As K-pop juggernaut BTS takes the global K-pop craze to new heights, South Korea is again debating whether or not to conscript the seven young men for their mandatory active duty. Talk of special treatment resurfaced on Sept. 3, two days after the latest single “Dynamite” claimed the coveted top spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart -- a first in the history of Korean music and a “splendid feat” that boosted national pride, according to President Moon Jae-in.
Defense Oct. 10, 2020
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NK to showcase strategic weapons on anniversary: defense minister
North Korea is preparing events for the Workers’ Party’s founding anniversary this Saturday, and a military parade is one of the choices to stage a show of force with new strategic weapons, South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook told a parliamentary audit Wednesday. Suh did not provide get into detail regarding what weapons the North would unveil, but added that the isolated country appears poised to remain in wait-and-see mode. North Korean experts expect the regime to unvei
Defense Oct. 7, 2020
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[Newsmaker] N. Korea touts economic progress as party anniversary nears
North Korea on Monday celebrated its economic achievements as it geared up for the anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party on Saturday, at a time when its economy is faltering under UN-led sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic and the aftereffects of recent floods. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency and its state newspaper released extensive coverage of what it called a “remarkable” recovery from the floods, saying hundreds of new homes and pu
North Korea Oct. 5, 2020
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Air Force seeks name for fighter jet
South Korea’s Air Force is looking for a name for its next-generation fighter jet, known by the project name KF-X. Citizens can submit one candidate name each by the end of this month, and three winners will receive the Air Force Chief’s recognition awards and model aircraft. The KF-X project is the largest undertaking ever by the Korean military, with some $15 billion earmarked for investment until production. The prototype will be released early next year, with another five year
Defense Oct. 4, 2020
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[Newsmaker] N. Korea seen moving intercontinental ballistic missile: report
South Korean and US intelligence have spotted North Korea moving an intercontinental ballistic missile, along with four mobile launchers, at an auto plant on the outskirts of Pyongyang, a Seoul official told a local media outlet on Saturday. “The missile is larger than the one they fired in 2017 and we believe they will showcase that at a military parade on Oct. 10,” the official said. North Korea fired its first ICBM, Hwasong-15, in 2017 and appears set to stage a show of force on
North Korea Oct. 4, 2020
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Koreans seek time alone at COVID-hit Chuseok
Chuseok has traditionally been a time for families to gather, enjoy time together and share good food. Many visit their rural hometowns for ancestral rituals and reunions with other family members and relatives. But this year, as long-distance trips and large gatherings are being discouraged as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus, many have been forced to adjust their plans. For some, that is not such a bad thing. Those yearning for respite from work, in particular, look forward to
Social Affairs Sept. 29, 2020
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N. Korea breached inter-Korean military pact: experts
A day after South Korea’s presidential office described North Korea’s killing of a Seoul fisheries official as a violation of the “spirit” of the inter-Korean military pact and not the accord itself, experts on Friday heaped strong criticism on the top office. North Korea on Tuesday shot dead the official in the West Sea north of the inter-Korean maritime border and is thought to have burned the body there. South Korean intelligence suspects the man was attempting defect
North Korea Sept. 25, 2020
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Moon’s call for end-of-war declaration ‘out of sync’ with US: experts
President Moon Jae-in called for help to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War in his UN address, but the US appeared wary, with the State Department highlighting “unified response” to North Korea, and a former US security official describing the overture as “out of sync” with the US stance. “We are committed to close coordination on our unified response to North Korea,” the State Department told Voice of America on Wednesday, without elaborating if Washin
North Korea Sept. 24, 2020
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New defense chief to travel to US to resolve disputes
South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook will attend an annual security meeting with the US in mid-October, military sources confirmed Wednesday. He is expected to facilitate the stalled defense cost-sharing negotiations and review the plan for Seoul to take over wartime operational control from Washington. Despite a year of negotiations, Korea and the US have yet to conclude an agreement for the upkeep of US troops here, largely because they have failed to work out differences over Washin
Defense Sept. 23, 2020
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USFK relaxes quarantine rules
United States Forces Korea said Wednesday it had decided to downgrade by a notch the peninsula-wide health emergency declaration to Bravo, the second level of the four stages of guidelines, citing “favorable” coronavirus conditions here. The change is effective nationwide from 4 p.m. Thursday, except for some areas in the Greater Seoul area, including Incheon and Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Travel to the Greater Seoul area still remains off-limits for personnel except for official d
Defense Sept. 23, 2020
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Effort to denuclearize N. Korea should go on: Trump
US President Donald Trump said countries should continue to work to denuclearize North Korea, in written greetings delivered to the 2020 International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference on Monday. For the IAEA event, which opened Monday and runs through Friday in Vienna, the US leader also discussed Iran, saying it was important to make sure it commits to its nonproliferation promises and seeks no nuclear weapons. The US was moving to sanction individuals and groups tied to
North Korea Sept. 22, 2020
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NK resumes missile cooperation with Iran: report
North Korea and Iran have resumed long-range missile cooperation, which includes the transfer of critical parts, Reuters reported Monday, citing a senior US official who did not provide detailed evidence. The official, who was speaking of a broader US plan to sanction people and entities linked to Iran’s weapons programs, did not elaborate on when Pyongyang and Tehran first started working together, or when they stopped and began again, according to the report. North Korea and Iran have
North Korea Sept. 21, 2020
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S. Korea expresses ‘deep regret’ as Japan’s Abe visits wartime shrine
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed deep regret over former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead. The shrine honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals. Visits there by ranking Tokyo officials have often provoked the ire of neighboring countries such as South Korea and China, which suffered from Japan’s brutal war crimes. “We express our deepest concern and regret that Abe paid a
Foreign Affairs Sept. 20, 2020
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