South Korea’s 1st spy satellite fit for combat

South Korea’s first military reconnaissance satellite has been declared fit for combat and is to be tasked with full-scale missions within this month, according to the country’s arms procurement agency on Wednesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said on the same day the spy satellite -- a key surveillance and reconnaissance asset of the country’s “kill chain” -- was deemed to be suitable for combat by the Ministry of National Defense. The ministry c

Aug. 14, 2024

Seoul to hold drill simulating North Korean nuclear attack

South Korea will stage the first government-wide drill against North Korean nuclear attack scenarios as part of Ulchi Freedom Shield, an annual joint and combined exercise with the United States. The UFS this year is set to take place from Aug. 19 to 29, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command on Monday. The South Korean JCS said alongside the military exercises, the government will hold a first-ever drill training officials and staff

Aug. 12, 2024

S. Korea, US to begin key summertime military exercise next week

South Korea and the United States will begin a major combined military exercise next week to strengthen their joint defense readiness in the face of evolving North Korean military threats, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday. The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise is set to take place from Aug. 19-29, featuring the main computer simulation-based command post exercise, concurrent field training and civil defense drills. The move comes amid heightened cross-border tensions due to Pyongyang

Aug. 12, 2024

S. Korea, US to hold 6th round of defense cost-sharing talks in Washington next week

South Korea and the United States will hold their sixth round of negotiations in Washington next week to determine Seoul's share of the cost for stationing the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK), the chief US negotiator said Friday. Linda Specht, US lead negotiator for security agreements at the State Department, released a statement on the plan to hold the negotiations in the US capital from Monday through Wednesday. South Korea's delegation is led by Lee Tae-woo, a senior diploma

Aug. 10, 2024

Military intelligence official referred to prosecution over alleged leak of 'black agents' info

A military intelligence official has been referred to the prosecution for allegedly leaking information of South Korean espionage agents operating overseas, the defense ministry said Thursday. "The Defense Counterintelligence Command has referred the civilian official at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command to the military prosecution on charges of violating the Military Secret Protection Act ... as well as espionage charges," the defense ministry said in a statement. The official, w

Aug. 8, 2024

Senior military officers wary of conscripts’ cellphone use: ministry

South Korean military officers have voiced caution over permitting new conscripts cellphones over security concerns, according to the Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday. The ministry surveyed officers as a new policy taking effect in September is set to allow soldiers’ use of cellphones more widely. In the survey released by the Defense Ministry, one officer said letting soldiers use cellphones has led to “disruptions in training while violations continue to occur.” &ldq

Aug. 7, 2024

South Korean commandos on Kim Il-sung mission to get first apology

South Korean commandos who died as they escaped from Silmido -- an uninhabited island where they were being trained to kill then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung -- are due to receive an apology from the country’s defense chief for the first time in 53 years. In August 1971, the 24 commandos of South Korea’s secret killer squad fled the island in protest of poor treatment, after over three years of training to infiltrate North Korea and capture its leader. On their way out of Silmido,

Aug. 5, 2024

Covert agent identity leaks trigger alarm over S. Korea's intelligence operations

An ongoing investigation into the leak of military secrets, including personal details of South Korean covert agents abroad, has raised serious concerns about the potential impact on the human intelligence operations critical for gathering information on North Korea. South Korea's Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday that its central military court issued an arrest warrant for a civilian military employee of the Korean Defense Intelligence Command "on charges including leaking military s

July 31, 2024

Official at military's intelligence command arrested for alleged leak of 'black agents' info

A military court has issued a warrant to arrest an official at the military's intelligence command for allegedly leaking information of South Korean espionage agents operating overseas, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The civilian official at the Korea Defense Intelligence Command, whose identity is withheld, is suspected of handing over personal information of so-called black agents to a Chinese national of Korean descent. Black agents refer to intelligence officials conducting undercov

July 30, 2024

Cabinet approves launch of strategic command

South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposed presidential decree to establish a strategic command aimed at effectively countering North Korea's increasingly sophisticated nuclear and missile threats, according to the presidential office. South Korea's strategic command will also play a central role in integrating the country's advanced conventional forces with US nuclear forces, thereby strengthening integrated deterrence between the treaty allies against potential No

July 30, 2024

Military vetting info leak of agents spying on N. Korea

The military is conducting an investigation into a leak of personal information of agents assigned to an intelligence unit tasked with spying on North Korea, sources said Saturday. The Korea Defense Intelligence Command discovered about a month earlier that classified information, including personal data of its agents stationed overseas, had been leaked, prompting an investigation by the Defense Counterintelligence Command. The leaked information is said to have included those on official cove

July 27, 2024

North Korean trash balloons reaching South Korea more successfully: JCS

The latest batch of trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea made their way to South Korea more successfully this time, reportedly causing a fire and falling around the country’s most significant political buildings like the presidential office and the National Assembly. The count of North Korean balloons launched Wednesday stood at around 500 as of Thursday morning, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, with about 480 of them falling within South Korea. No balloons we

July 25, 2024

N. Korea sweet wrappers, noodles on Seoul streets in balloon blitz

North Korean sweet wrappers and packets of crackers made at a factory once visited by leader Kim Jong Un were seen by AFP reporters on streets in the South Korean capital Wednesday. The nuclear-armed North has sent thousands of balloons carrying bags of trash southwards since May, in a tit-for-tat propaganda war between the two Koreas, with Seoul blasting K-pop and anti-regime messages from loudspeakers along the border in return. South Korea's military warned of a fresh batch of balloons e

July 24, 2024

Defense chiefs of South Korea, US, Japan to meet in Tokyo to discuss NK threats

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold talks in Tokyo next week to discuss issues such as strengthening their trilateral security cooperation in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the South's defense ministry said Monday. The gathering scheduled for Sunday comes amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's repeated launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in a tit-for-tat r

July 22, 2024

S. Korean military resumes loudspeaker broadcasts near border in response to NK balloons

South Korea's military conducted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea in response to its latest launch of trash-carrying balloons into the South, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday. The broadcasts took place from Thursday evening to early Friday in areas near where the balloons were launched, the JCS said in a notice to reporters. It did not provide further details. "The military's response going forward will fully depend on North Korea's actions," the

July 19, 2024

US Indo-Pacific commander says S. Korea's acquisition of nuclear submarines could be considered in future: Yoon's office

The chief of the US Indo-Pacific Command has said the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines in South Korea could be considered in the future depending on its operational analysis, the presidential office said Sunday. "From the standpoint of submarine warfare, I think it's important as allies and partners to find the most efficient and effective ways to combine our capabilities in ways that most effectively defend our alliances and partnerships," Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo s

July 14, 2024

S. Korea, US sign guidelines for decisive, integrated response to NK nuclear attacks

South Korea and the United States signed joint guidelines Thursday to ensure a swift and decisive response to any North Korean nuclear attack by integrating South Korea's advanced conventional forces and US nuclear capabilities into a strengthened combined defense strategy. The "Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula" were signed by South Korea's Defense Ministry and the US Defense Department just before the summit between South Korean Presiden

July 12, 2024

S. Korea, Japan hold 1st meeting of senior defense officials in 9 years

South Korea and Japan held joint talks between their senior defense officials in Tokyo on Wednesday, the defense ministry said, amid efforts to improve bilateral ties and deter threats from North Korea. It marked the first time the director general-level meeting was held since August 2015. The meeting had usually been held on an annual basis since it was launched in 1994. Lee Seung-beom, director general for international policy at the defense ministry, and his Japanese counterpart, Atsushi Ando

July 10, 2024

S. Korea, US to hold 5th round of defense cost-sharing talks this week

South Korea and the United States will hold their fifth round of negotiations this week on sharing the costs for stationing the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK), the foreign ministry said Monday. The latest round of talks on the Special Measures Agreement will take place in Seoul from Wednesday to Friday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fourth round of talks was held in late June. The allies launched the negotiations in April, earlier than expected, amid speculation that Se

July 8, 2024

Yoon to attend NATO summit in Washington, visit Indo-Pacific Command

President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Washington next week and visit the US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, the presidential office announced Friday. Principal deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo informed reporters that President Yoon would arrive in Washington on Wednesday to meet leaders of NATO member countries and the NATO leadership. The discussions will focus on the war in Ukraine and the cooperation between the transatlantic secu

July 5, 2024