South Korea and the US on Friday staged another military air exercise over the west coast of South Korea by mobilizing their stealth fighters, just two days after US strategic bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula for combined aerial drills. The air combat exercise involved F-22 and F-35B advanced stealth fighters and F-16CM fighting aircraft of the US Air Force and South Korean Air Force’s F-35A stealth fighter jets, according to South Korea’s Air Force. “The combined exercise

South Korea is looking to test-launch a new "high-power" ballistic missile in the near future, an informed source said Wednesday, in a move to bolster deterrence against evolving North Korean military threats. The country has been working on the development of the missile, known as Hyunmoo-5, as a core asset of its deterrence capabilities. Earlier in the day, speculation emerged that the state-run Agency for Defense Development may test-fire it at its Anheung test site in Taean, 15

Seven out of 10 South Koreans see the need for Seoul to independently pursue its own nuclear weapons development program, a survey showed, amid concerns over escalating military threats from Pyongyang and a lack of trust in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea. According to a Gallup Korea poll of 1,000 adults, commissioned by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, 76.6 percent replied that the South needs to develop nuclear weapons independently to counter Pyongyang’s intensify

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday asked the US defense chief to arrange bilateral consultations to establish “effective” extended deterrence mechanisms which could dispel South Koreans’ concerns over North Korean nuclear threats. In return, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged to make every effort for combined defense to clear up South Korea’s doubts over the credibility of the US security commitment and nuclear assurances, senior presidential secreta

Seoul, Washington to facilitate real-time sharing of NK missile data with Tokyo

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Tuesday that if an adversary challenges South Korea or the United States, it would be challenging the two countries' "alliance as a whole," reaffirming America's "ironclad" security commitment to the Asian ally. Austin issued the warning in an exclusive contribution piece to Yonhap News Agency, as he plans to hold talks with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup in Seoul later in the day to discuss deterrence against evolving Nort

Yoon vows to support Ukraine people on NATO head’s military support request

Two Chinese fighter jets flew through the overlapping parts of the air defense identification zones of South Korea and China earlier this week, prompting the military here to put its warplanes on standby, officials here said Friday. Their flight on Thursday came just before the Pentagon announced Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Seoul for talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, next week in what could be an occasion to highlight their commitment to cementing the bilateral

South and North Korea breached the armistice agreement by flying drones across the inter-Korean border last December, said the United Nations Command on Thursday. South Korea disputed the UNC’s conclusion, saying that sending drones to North Korea after Pyongyang’s infiltration was carried out in “self-defense,” which is not restricted by the armistice agreement. The special investigation team was able to determine that the North Korean military “committ

The South Korean military on Thursday has publicly conceded overall defects in its counter-unmanned aircraft operations and the absence of real-time information-sharing between the army and air forces on airborne objects.  The forces initially failed to recognize the urgency of the situation and communicated via wire-tapped phone calls when North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles infiltrated South Korea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in its report of a three-week ins

The United States’ transfer of its munitions stockpiles in South Korea to Ukraine will not affect the readiness posture of the US Forces Korea, the US Department of Defense said Thursday. The Pentagon underscored that the diversion of munitions stored in South Korea is in line with the Pentagon’s efforts to quickly provide ammunition, materials, capabilities, and equipment to Ukraine for use in the war against Russia. “We have been working with ROK and Israel when it comes to w

KF-21 flies supersonically six months after S. Korea began journey of test flights in July last year

S.Korea, US, Japan seek to hold senior-level talks to upgrade information sharing on N.Korean missile threats

  The arms procurement agencies of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have signed a deal to strategically and substantially enhance defense industry cooperation, which has paved the way for South Korean defense contractors to expand their export horizons to the UAE. South Korean Minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Eom Dong-hwan, and Secretary General of the UAE’s Tawazun Council, Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, signed a memorandum of understanding on “

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Korean troops stationed in the United Arab Emirates to encourage the soldiers, telling them the UAE is “our brother” and that its security was the security of South Korea, the presidential office said Sunday. President Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee visited the Akh unit, which has been dispatched by South Korea since 2011 to train UAE special forces at the request of the UAE government. Yoon told the troops the