Seoul plans K-LUCAS deployment in broader military drone overhaul
South Korea will pursue the deployment of a domestically developed long-range one-way attack drone, the Defense Ministry said Friday, as it seeks to rapidly expand its unmanned combat capabilities. The system, named K-LUCAS — short for K-Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System — is a key part of a new drone and counter-drone development policy drawn up in response to lessons from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. “Every service membe
RIMPAC begins with S. Korean Navy taking first command role
The U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific exercise, the world’s largest multinational maritime drill, has begun in and around Hawaii, with the South Korean Navy taking charge of a major command role for the first time. The biennial exercise, known as RIMPAC, began Wednesday and will run through July 31 in waters off Hawaii and across the Pacific, according to the U.S. Defense Department. About 30,000 personnel from multiple countries are taking part. The Pentag
S. Korea to retain conscription while expanding tech-focused NCO track
A stable career in high-tech military service is the incentive South Korea is dangling to attract young people as it grapples with a shrinking pool of military recruits while facing a persistently hostile North Korea. The outline is to retain the country's decades-old mandatory military service system while giving military-age men greater choice between serving as enlisted conscripts and pursuing a longer-term, technology-focused noncommissioned officer (N
Korean Air Force holds first live-fire drill against drone swarm
The South Korean Air Force has conducted its first live-fire exercise against a swarm of drones, using Vulcan cannons, a portable laser system and shotguns to shoot down 50 targets. The Air Force Missile Defense Command carried out the exercise Tuesday at a training range on the country’s west coast in response to the growing threat posed by drone swarms on modern battlefields, the Air Force said Wednesday. Eight Vulcan cannons opened fire simultaneou
Hanwha becomes KAI's second-largest shareholder after raising stake
Hanwha Group has raised its combined stake in Korea Aerospace Industries Co. to 9.04 percent, becoming the aircraft maker’s second-largest shareholder after the government, the group said Tuesday. Hanwha Aerospace said in a regulatory filing that it has secured a 6.5 percent stake in aircraft manufacturing monopoly, completing earlier than planned its goal of investing 500 billion won ($330 million) to buy additional shares in the company by the end of t
South Korea redraws decades-old borderlines with North Korea
South Korea is redrawing lines along the world's most heavily fortified border with North Korea, easing decades-old military restrictions to reflect changing security conditions, a shrinking military-age population and advances in modern warfare. The Defense Ministry said Wednesday it will move the civilian control line about 2 kilometers northward, opening up swaths of tightly regulated border areas and reducing long-standing restrictions on residents.
Seoul wants to merge officer corps. The military disagrees
South Korea remains a peninsula technically still at war, its troops facing a nuclear-armed North Korea across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders. That reality has long shaped how the country trains its military officers — which is why the liberal government's push to merge the Army, Navy and Air Force academies is drawing fierce resistance from alumni associations, retired generals and the parents of current cadets. The backla
S. Korea, US reaffirm goal of NK denuclearization at nuclear consultative talks
South Korea and the United States reaffirmed their shared goal of North Korea’s denuclearization during high-level nuclear deterrence talks in Seoul on Thursday, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said, amid growing concerns that the international focus on Pyongyang’s denuclearization is weakening. The two allies held the sixth session of the Nuclear Consultative Group, or NCG, a bilateral body launched in 2023 to strengthen U.S. extended deterrence ag
US approves $292 million sale of AMRAAM missiles to South Korea
The United States has approved the sale of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and related equipment to South Korea in a deal worth $292 million, the State Department said Wednesday. The department said it approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Seoul of 70 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, known as AMRAAMs, and two AMRAAM guidance sections. The package also includes AMRAAM containers, control sections, support equipment, spar
US House panel passes defense bill provision barring foreign construction of Navy warships
A U.S. House committee has approved a provision in the fiscal 2027 defense policy bill that would prohibit the Navy from using funds to build warships at foreign shipyards, a move that could complicate Washington’s recent push to tap allied shipbuilding capacity, including South Korean yards. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, said in a press release on Friday that the House Armed Services Committee had adopted his amendment to the fiscal 2027 Nat