Articles by Choi Si-young
Choi Si-young
siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com-
[Herald Interview] Arms procurement chief lauds ‘hidden’ defense tech champions
Wang Jung-hong, a state auditor for 29 years, was appointed chief of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in August 2018, amid hope for fairness, openness and greater accountability in arms procurement deals for the South Korean military, ranked the world’s sixth powerful. Wang’s mission as the chief weapons buyer for the armed forces, however, went far beyond that. As the country looked to spend more money on buying locally built weapons, he forged a team, includi
Defense Aug. 4, 2020
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Military embarrassed by security cameras mapping defector’s escape
The 24-year-old North Korean defector who recently returned to the North was detected multiple times by the South Korean military before reaching his destination, an internal investigation revealed Friday. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the defector, identified only by the surname Kim, took a cab to Ganghwado, an island west of Incheon bordering the North, crawled through a drainpipe and cut through rusty barbed-wire fences. It took Kim about two hours to complete the journey,
Defense July 31, 2020
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Expanded drone pilot test site expected in Gimcheon
An expanded test site for drone pilot certification is expected to be built in Gimcheon, a city in North Gyeongsang Province, by 2023, a city official said Thursday. Ten other such sites are already in place, but the Gimcheon test ground will be the first to have a drone runaway and other facilities that will for the first time help test applicants’ ability to pilot drones under bad weather or other extreme conditions. The expansion is in response to a hike in the number of drone pilot h
Social Affairs July 30, 2020
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[News Analysis] Fettered for decades, Seoul to strengthen space push
With a major hurdle lifted on rocket propellants, South Korea is set to double up its efforts to build a foothold in space, eyeing, above anything else, the country’s first ship to land on the moon and its first spy satellite, experts said Wednesday. President Moon Jae-in, addressing the revision in a Korea-US missile pact announced the previous day, signaled a push to secure “complete missile sovereignty,” while expressing hopes to see industries affected by the latest
Defense July 29, 2020
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Military to halt jailing rule-breaking soldiers
Starting next Wednesday, soldiers who break rules while on active duty will not face detention at a guardhouse. The military is putting an end to the 124-year-old practice, which critics say constitutes unlawful confinement. Currently, rule-breaking soldiers can be detained in military lockup facilities for up to 15 days, and time in detention does not count toward their compulsory terms of about two years in the military. The detention system, in place since 1896, has been called uncon
Defense July 28, 2020
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[Newsmaker] Defector who swam back to North fled ‘hopeless life’ in North
A North Korean defector believed to have swum across a river to return to North Korea earlier this month spoke of a “hopeless life” in the North and his perilous journey to the South on YouTube last month. Appearing in a video posted by a channel run by defectors, the man, presumed to be in his 20s and surnamed Kim, shared his story of fleeing the North for a better life in 2017, a year after the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex was closed over Pyongyang’s long-range m
North Korea July 27, 2020
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‘High chances’ that defector returned to North via border: Seoul
South Korea’s military said Sunday that an unidentified person may have crossed the inter-Korean border to North Korea, supporting the North’s claim that a defector returned home a week ago with COVID-19 symptoms. The North’s Korean Central News Agency said earlier in the day that the homecoming had prompted leader Kim Jong-un to chair an emergency Politburo meeting, where he raised the country’s coronavirus alert to the highest level and ordered a complete shutdow
North Korea July 26, 2020
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Hanwha ships prototype fighting vehicles to Australia in W5tr deal
CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang Province -- South Korean defense firm Hanwha Defense said Sunday that it was shipping two Redback infantry fighting vehicles to the Australian Army for testing, part of a project worth roughly 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion). The Australian military will decide whether to make a final offer on the Korean-made vehicles by late 2022, after testing them from November to August next year. The Redback and Germany’s Rheinmetall Defence are shortlisted for the count
Defense July 26, 2020
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[Feature] Criminalized for decades, conscientious objectors to begin alternative service
Starting in October, conscientious objectors in Korea who pass a thorough screening process will work in jails for three years instead of serving in the military for about two years. The alternative service system is a major departure from the country’s 67-year history of criminalizing people who refused conscription, regardless of whether they did so on religious grounds. Technically still at war with North Korea, South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve in the military
Defense July 22, 2020
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Esper says no troop removal in Korea, leaves room for change
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday he had issued “no orders to withdraw forces in the Korean Peninsula,” but left the door open, saying the Pentagon seeks to optimize US forces through troop adjustments at every command worldwide. “I continue to want to pursue more rotational force deployments into theaters, because it gives us greater strategic flexibility in terms of responding to challenges around the globe,” Esper said at a virtual event hosted by the Inter
Defense July 22, 2020
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S. Korea launches first independent military satellite
South Korea successfully launched its first military communication satellite into space Monday, US time, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Tuesday. On the Falcon 9 rocket developed by US space firm Space X, the Anasis-II satellite lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:30 p.m., local time. After separating from the rocket, it tested for ground communication at 7:19 p.m., the arms procurement agency said. The latest launch has made Korea the 10th country in
Defense July 21, 2020
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S. Korea, US defense chiefs have yet to decide on joint drills
Defense chiefs of South Korea and the US held a teleconference Monday to discuss a number of pending issues and reaffirmed that both sides will “unwaveringly” work together for the handover of wartime operational control from the US back to South Korea. But no conclusion has been reached yet on whether or not to hold August’s annual joint drills as planned, the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul said Monday. “Nothing has been decided. The two sides are still in clos
Defense July 21, 2020
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No talks on US troop cuts in S. Korea: Defense Ministry
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense reaffirmed Monday that there has been no discussion between Seoul and Washington about cutting back the 28,500-strong US military presence here. “We’ve touched on that issue several times before. Nothing has been discussed on that matter,” deputy spokesperson Moon Hong-sik told a regular briefing. Moon added that a potential troop pullout will not be one of the talking points when the defense chiefs of South Korea and the US h
Defense July 20, 2020
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US troops advised to follow COVID-19 rules after beach havoc
United States Forces Korea on Tuesday advised its personnel stationed in South Korea to strictly observe the antivirus guidelines the country has been urging local residents to follow in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The US military in a Twitter post highlighted wearing a mask, keeping a safe distance from one another and not eating or drinking on beaches, after soldiers caused controversy with a Fourth of July party that included fireworks on Haeundae Beach in Busan. About 20
Defense July 15, 2020
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1 in 2 N. Koreans underfed: UN report
Nearly half of the North Korean population, or 12.2 million people, suffered undernutrition from 2016-2019, the United Nations estimated in its latest report on food security worldwide. At the time, North Korea was second only to Haiti, which posted the highest rate of undernourished residents globally at 48.2 percent of the population, slightly ahead the North’s 47.6 percent, according to the report compiled by UN food and relief agencies including the World Food Program. The report fo
North Korea July 14, 2020
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