South Korea will allow qualified private organizations to take part in mine detection and clearance work as part of a new five-year plan to reform how the country manages landmines no longer needed for military purposes, the defense ministry said Monday. The Ministry of National Defense said it has finalized its first five-year mine action plan, which will run from 2027 to 2031. Under the plan, mine clearance will no longer be treated mainly as a military

South Korean forces nearly shot down a U.S. Marine Corps drone flying near the inter-Korean border after front-line units failed to identify it as part of an allied exercise, military sources said Friday. The incident occurred Thursday afternoon in the northern border city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, where U.S. Marines were conducting training as part of KMEP, a combined exercise between the South Korean and U.S. Marine Corps. As part of the drill, the U.S.

Korea Aerospace Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazilian aerospace company Embraer to begin strategic cooperation in the field of aircraft structures, the company said Thursday. The agreement was signed on July 28 during President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit to Brazil, laying the groundwork for broader cooperation between the two companies in future aerospace technologies. KAI said the MOU is aimed at exploring potential busi

South Korea’s military will inspect guard operations across all Army corps after controversy emerged over a front-line unit’s decision not to keep live ammunition loaded in crew-served weapons during border guard operations. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday, the Army’s Ground Operations Command will begin the inspection with I Corps and expand it to all subordinate corps. The review will look into whether other corps have

South Korea crossed a milestone in its decades-long naval evolution this week by commanding the maritime component of the world's largest multinational naval exercise for the first time, underscoring Seoul's growing ambition to become a blue-water navy capable of operating far beyond the Korean Peninsula. The Republic of Korea Navy served as commander of the Combined Forces Maritime Component during this year's Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC),

South Korea’s Army has launched a trial unit that combines soldiers with drones, quadruped robots, multipurpose unmanned ground vehicles and autonomous vehicles at the squad level, as it seeks to test future combat formations built around manned-unmanned teaming. The Army said Wednesday it held a launch ceremony for an experimental manned-unmanned squad at the 11th Maneuver Division in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. The squad consists of eight personnel

South Korea has completed the development of its first homegrown KF-21 fighter jet, dubbed Boramae, marking the completion of a decade-long project launched in December 2015. At a ceremony held at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)'s headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) officially declared the completion of the project, with key officials from government agencies, institution

For more than three decades, denuclearization was the one word that defined every major policy toward North Korea. Every summit, sanctions package and diplomatic initiative ultimately revolved around the goal of dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Today, the word is quietly disappearing — not because the objective has been achieved, but because policymakers in Washington and Seoul are increasingly planning for a future in which North Kor

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wasted little time in Brazil tending to one of Seoul's key dense priorities. Upon arriving in Brasilia for a state visit, Lee headed straight to inspect a Brazilian-built C-390 Millennium military transport aircraft before holding summit talks with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The acquisition addresses two strategic objectives: replacing South Korea's aging tactical transport fleet while diversif