South Korea, US review joint guidelines against North Korean nuclear threats

South Korea and the United States completed a review of joint guidelines for responding against a possible nuclear attack by North Korea, according to the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul. After holding a third meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Seoul on Monday, the ministry said the South Korea-US joint guidelines, in the process of being finalized, would touch on the alliance's policies and principles for nuclear deterrence on the Korean Peninsula. The ministry described th

June 10, 2024

North Korea setting up loudspeakers along border: JCS

North Korea appears to be installing loudspeakers on the front lines on Thursday, a day after South Korea resumed the anti-Pyongyang broadcasts from near the border for the first time in six years, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS said in a message to reporters Monday that North Korea was believed to be preparing for their own broadcasts targeting the South across the border. “We have identified signs of North Korea setting up loudspeakers in the border areas

June 10, 2024

S. Korean loudspeakers blare again after North Korean trash balloon barrage

South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts into North Korea on Sunday, in response to North Korea's launches of trash-laden balloons into South Korean territory over the weekend, the Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed. Despite warnings of retaliation from Seoul, North Korea flew 330 additional balloons loaded with trash from late Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday morning, apparently in response to activists' launches of leaflet-carrying balloons headed the other way. "Our military conduc

June 9, 2024

North Korea resumes trash balloon launches: JCS

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said late Saturday that North Korea was flying balloons loaded with trash once again, as the wind was forecast to veer south. Following the JCS announcement an alert was issued across Seoul and areas near the border warning residents to beware of falling objects and to report sightings to authorities. The South Korean military has been watching for another wave of the North Korean balloons after a group of activists called Fighters for Free North Korea t

June 8, 2024

S. Korea, US to hold 3rd round of defense cost-sharing negotiations in Washington next week

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States will hold their third round of cost sharing negotiations for stationing US Forces Korea (USFK) in Washington next week, the chief US negotiator said Friday. Linda Specht, senior advisor and US lead negotiator for security agreements at the State Department, said that the two sides will have the negotiations over the cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) from Monday through Wednesday. The South Korean delegation is led by Le

June 8, 2024

S. Korea's Navy fleet to leave for Hawaii to join biennial RIMPAC exercise

A South Korean fleet of warships and maritime aircraft and around 840 Navy and Marine troops were set to depart for Hawaii on Friday to join a US-led multinational maritime exercise slated to kick off later this month, the Navy said. The fleet will leave a naval base on the southern resort island of Jeju on Friday afternoon to join the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise scheduled to run from June 26 through Aug. 2, according to the Navy. The Korean fleet comprises naval ships including the 7,6

June 7, 2024

Indonesia's parliament accepts S. Korea's donation of retired warship: reports

Indonesia approved a proposal Thursday to accept a South Korean donation of an aging corvette for its navy, reports showed. Indonesia's parliament passed the proposal to receive the 1,200-ton Bucheon 773 corvette, which retired in 2021 after nearly 30 years in service, from South Korea, Reuters reported. It is estimated that US$85 billion will be needed for maintenance and other costs to make it operational, Deputy Defense Minister Herindra told parliament. The donation came after Indonesia

June 6, 2024

US B-1B bomber holds bombing drills in S. Korea for 1st time in 7 years

The United States on Wednesday deployed one B-1B bomber for joint bombing drills in South Korea for the first time in seven years amid heightened tensions over North Korea's trash balloon campaign and GPS jamming attacks. The US heavy bomber from Andersen Air Base in Guam and two South Korean F-15K fighters released live GBU-38, 500-pound joint direct attack munitions, to strike multiple simulated targets at Pilsung Range in Taebaek, Gangwon Province, according to the US 7th Air Force in So

June 5, 2024

Military to resume border area artillery drills following suspension of pact with N. Korea

South Korea is set to restart artillery drills near the Military Demarcation Line and the northwestern border islands as early as this month, military sources said Wednesday, after the country effectively suspended a 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction pact. On Tuesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol endorsed a motion calling for the full suspension of the Comprehensive Military Agreement in response to the North's trash-carrying balloon campaign and GPS jamming attacks in recent days. The move en

June 5, 2024

South Korea forms satellite cyber security body

South Korean spy agency said Tuesday it was forming a consultative body of concerned ministries and other government agencies to enhance satellite cyber security. The consultative body led by the National Intelligence Service is aimed at protecting satellites throughout their lifespan from their design to operation. The NIS explained that the body was created against amid emerging domestic and international space cyber threats, citing the recent cyber attack against the Korea Satellite Operation

June 4, 2024

South Korea suspends pact, resumes border military activities

South Korea voted in a Cabinet meeting to suspend the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement on Tuesday after a week of North Korea’s unceasing provocations ranging from attempting to launch another spy satellite to sending trash balloons. The Cabinet decision was approved by President Yoon Suk Yeol the same day, making the pact -- reached on September 19, 2018, to minimize front-line tensions -- lose effect entirely for the time being. South Korea earlier halted parts of the pact to

June 4, 2024

Seoul vows strong action against NK trash balloons

North Korea sent another batch of balloons carrying filth and propaganda to South Korea over the weekend, prompting a stern reaction from the South Korean government, which vowed Sunday to take “unendurable” action. “Dispatching of trash balloons and jamming GPS are despicable and irrational acts of provocation that could not have been imagined by a normal country,” National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin said after presiding over a National Security Council meeting called

June 2, 2024

NSC expected to discuss resuming loudspeaker campaign over North's launch of trash-carrying balloons

The presidential National Security Council is expected to discuss a plan to resume propaganda campaigns via loudspeakers across the border with North Korea, in response to the North's launch of some 600 balloons carrying trash to the South, a source close to the matter said Sunday. The NSC meeting will be held Sunday afternoon and presided over by National Security Adviser Jang Ho-jin, according to the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Earlier in the day, South Korea's military said N

June 2, 2024

South Korea, Japan defense chiefs agree to put past behind them at Singapore meeting

SINGAPORE -- South Korea’s Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik and Japan’s Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara agreed to look to the future in a bilateral meeting held at the Asia Security Summit or the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. At the meeting that lasted for about half an hour, the two ministers agreed to put the maritime row that had frustrated defense negotiations between the countries for the last five years, and pursue reconciliation. In December 2018, Japan accused

June 1, 2024

N. Korea sends some 90 balloons carrying trash to S. Korea: Seoul's military

North Korea sent around 90 balloons carrying trash to South Korea on Saturday, Seoul's military said, after it launched hundreds of similar balloons across the inter-Korean border earlier this week. As of 11 p.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected around 90 balloons that floated across the Military Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas and fell in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The North appears to have started sending the balloons at around 8 p.m., with the fallen balloons

June 1, 2024

Seoul defense chief thanks Congress for bill keeping US troops in South Korea

SINGAPORE -- Seoul’s Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik on Saturday credited the bipartisan support from the US Congress for its role in protecting the US troop presence in South Korea. Shin held a closed-door meeting with the US House of Representatives delegation comprising Reps. Young Kim, Michael McCaul, Gregory Meeks, Joe Wilson and Joe Courtney at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit on this day, according to the minister’s office. The South Korean defense minister was quoted

June 1, 2024

Seoul defense chief accuses Russia of using North Korean weapons in Ukraine attack

SINGAPORE -- South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said Saturday growing evidence pointed to Russia getting weapons from North Korea to attack Ukraine and aiding the Kim Jong-un regime’s military program. “Today we see more evidence that the weapons used by Russia to attack Ukraine were illegally imported from North Korea,” the South Korean minister of national defense said in his remarks delivered at the plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Russia, des

June 1, 2024

Talks on South Korea-Japan defense meeting in Singapore enter final stage

SINGAPORE -- South Korea and Japan are in the final stages of arranging a bilateral defense ministers dialogue in Singapore, according to Seoul military sources on Friday. South Korea’s Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik will likely meet his Japanese counterpart Minoru Kihara on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, according to officials. If it proceeds, the bilateral meeting would precede a trilateral meeting of South Korea,

May 31, 2024

Defense chief to meet with US, Japanese counterparts in Singapore

Shin Won-sik, South Korea’s Minister of National Defense, will attend this year’s Asia Security Summit in Singapore — also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue — where he is scheduled to meet with his counterparts from the US, Japan and other key partner countries. The annual summit hosted by the UK think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies gathers leaders and experts in defense and diplomacy. Held since 2002, this year’s summit marks the 21st anniversary

May 30, 2024

US senator floats redeployment of tactical nuclear arms to Korea to strengthen deterrence

A ranking member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday proposed the idea of redeploying US tactical nuclear arms to South Korea to beef up deterrence, noting the absence of any immediate diplomatic solution to North Korea's nuclear quandary. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) made the proposal in a report, titled "21st Century Peace Through Strength: A Generational Investment in the US Military," in which he stressed Pyongyang continues to "outpace expectations"

May 30, 2024