Latest news with #KimMyung-soo
Hans India
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Military chiefs of South Korea, US vow to strengthen trilateral security cooperation with Japan
Seoul: The top military officers of South Korea and the US vowed to further strengthen the allies' trilateral security cooperation with Japan during their first video talks earlier this week, the South's military said Wednesday. Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his US counterpart, Gen. John Daniel Caine, held the talks Tuesday, which marked the first between the two sides since Caine took office last month. "Through the South Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Chief of Defense meeting set to take place in South Korea in July, (the two sides) agreed to further strengthen the momentum of trilateral security cooperation," the JCS said in a release. The three countries have recently ramped up trilateral security cooperation through joint military drills amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported. Kim and Caine also stressed the importance of establishing the capabilities and posture to effectively respond to advancing North Korean threats in line with Pyongyang's expanding cooperation with Moscow, according to the JCS. North Korea is suspected to have received military technology assistance from Russia in return for deploying troops in support of Moscow's war against Ukraine. Earlier in March, 2025, South Korea, the US and Japan have conducted joint naval drills involving the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, Seoul's defence ministry said, in efforts to better deter and counter North Korea's chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) threats. The trilateral naval drills, was the first such exercise conducted this year and since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January -- took place in international waters south of the southern resort island of Jeju.
Korea Herald
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Military chiefs of S. Korea, US vow to strengthen trilateral security cooperation with Japan
The top military officers of South Korea and the United States vowed to further strengthen the allies' trilateral security cooperation with Japan during their first video talks earlier this week, the South's military said Wednesday. Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his US counterpart, Gen. John Daniel Caine, held the talks Tuesday, which marked the first between the two sides since Caine took office last month. "Through the South Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Chief of Defense meeting set to take place in South Korea in July, (the two sides) agreed to further strengthen the momentum of trilateral security cooperation," the JCS said in a release. The three countries have recently ramped up trilateral security cooperation through joint military drills amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. Kim and Caine also stressed the importance of establishing the capabilities and posture to effectively respond to advancing North Korean threats in line with Pyongyang's expanding cooperation with Moscow, according to the JCS. North Korea is suspected to have received military technology assistance from Russia in return for deploying troops in support of Moscow's war against Ukraine. (Yonhap)
Hans India
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
South Korean military chief inspects naval readiness, calls for deterrence against North Korea
Seoul: South Korea's top military officer inspected naval units and the submarine command on Thursday, urging firm naval readiness to deter any provocations by North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo made the call as he boarded the ROKS Jeongjo the Great destroyer and visited the submarine force command, the Jinhae Naval Base Command and the naval special warfare flotilla based in Jinhae, some 310 kilometres southeast of Seoul, according to the JCS. Boarding the destroyer, Kim urged troops to familiarise themselves with the warship's combat system and equipment to preemptively deter and respond to the North's nuclear and missile threats. The 8,200-tonne Aegis destroyer, armed with an advanced missile interception platform, was delivered to the Navy in November last year and is expected to be deployed by December. While visiting the submarine force command, Kim instructed the command to maintain a firm readiness posture against the enemy's potential provocations, Yonhap news agency reported. As part of the visit, Kim also conducted a command flight on the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, the JCS said. The Navy completed its acquisition of six P-8As last year with an aim to deploy them this year. Dubbed the "submarine killer," the P-8A is capable of conducting an array of missions, including anti-submarine, anti-surface, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. Earlier on Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had supervised combined tactical drills of special operations, stressing that the most "crucial" task for the North's armed forces is to make full preparations for war. The combined tactical drills of special operations and tank subunits' joint fire strike demonstration took place the previous day. "Saying that our revolutionary armed forces are now in charge of not a few fronts, but the most important among them is the anti-imperialist class front and making full preparations for war is the most crucial task," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA. He also said the combat drills will help "turn the whole army into an elite ranks." Photos carried by state media showed North Korean troops in camouflage suits operating drones. South Korea's spy agency earlier said it detected signs of North Korean troops deployed to Russia learning drone operations and tactics from Moscow. Last month, North Korea acknowledged for the first time that it had sent troops to Russia to fight against Ukrainian forces. During a visit to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang last week, Kim said the North's involvement in the war was "justifiable," calling it an exercise of sovereign rights under a mutual defence treaty with Moscow.
Korea Herald
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
S. Korea, US wrap up key joint military exercise against NK threats
South Korea and the United States wrapped up a major annual combined military exercise aimed at bolstering their defense capabilities against North Korean military threats Thursday, the South's military said. The computer-simulated Freedom Shield exercise drew to an end after an 11-day run in the face of North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats and deepening military cooperation with Russia. This year's exercise marked the first major military exercise by the allies since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January, with the US military having reaffirmed its security commitment to South Korea. For this year's exercise, South Korea deployed some 19,000 troops, and the allies staged expanded on-field drills to enhance their interoperability, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The exercise involved drills across the land, sea, air cyber and space domains, with South Korea's Strategic Command and the naval Task Fleet Command joining the joint exercise for the first time. "By reflecting realistic threats, such as changes in the North Korean military's strategy, tactics and forces, learned from Russia and North Korea's military cooperation and various armed conflicts, South Korea and the US could enhance the alliance's combined defense posture and response capabilities through realistic training," the JCS said. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo held in-depth discussions with the chief of the Combined Forces Command on the impact of Pyongyang and Moscow's military cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, it added. North Korea has long condemned the allies' joint drills as a rehearsal for an invasion against and has a track record of staging weapons tests in response. The North released a barrage of statements denouncing the joint drills as a "dangerous provocative act" and fired several ballistic missiles, believed to be close-range ones, on the first day of the exercise. But it did not carry out major provocations, such as the firing of a long-range ballistic missiles, this year. Freedom Shield is one of the allies' two major annual exercises that train troops based on an all-out war scenario. The other exercise -- Ulchi Freedom Shield -- usually takes place in August.
Korea Herald
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
S. Korea, US stage combined firepower drills near inter-Korean border
South Korea and the United States on Thursday held combined live-fire drills near the inter-Korean border, officials said, in a show of firepower against North Korean military threats ahead of their annual springtime exercise this month. The exercise took place at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the border, mobilizing more than 160 pieces of military hardware, including K2 tanks, K55A1 self-propelled howitzers, Apache attack helicopters and F-35A stealth jets, according to the Army. It marked the allies' first exercise of its kind this year, taking place in connection to the upcoming annual Freedom Shield exercise. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo and US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Bronson were set to visit and inspect the live-fire drills. The drills began with South Korean and US military drones conducting reconnaissance missions against simulated threats and directing artillery firing before mechanized infantry troops and tanks moved in to secure target areas, according to the Army. During the training, South Korean fighter jets dropped more than 30 live munitions, including an MK-84 bomb capable of penetrating 60 centimeters of concrete to target bunkers or hardened structures. North Korea has long denounced the allies' military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion against it, while South Korea and the US have said such drills are defensive in nature. (Yonhap)
