Free Republic

South Korea's Catholic Church announced on Monday it had reached agreement with North Korea to send priests there on "a regular basis," seeking an opening in a country with a long history of tight religious control, AFP reported. The agreement, which should see priests leading services in Pyongyang on major holy days from next year, followed a visit to the North Korean capital by South Korean bishops last week. The announcement by the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Korea (CBCK) came at the end of a 4-day visit to North Korea by a delegation of 4 bishops and 13 priests, on...

SEOUL--South Korea has increased its weapons exports more than 12-fold over the past decade, triggering friction with the United States because much of the technology involved originated there, sources say. It was stopped from selling the T-50 advanced trainer aircraft to Uzbekistan this year, according to a source knowledgeable about South Korea-U.S. relations. "The United States did not want the technology to go to a nation that once belonged to the Soviet Union," the source said. The T-50 is among the more popular South Korean defense systems and is manufactured by Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI). The company is seeking...

The military is planning to utilize its newly acquired FA-50 fighter jets in several air bases in the country in a bid to bring back the “supersonic jet age” of the Philippine Air Force (PAF). Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said they are eyeing air bases in Pampanga, Zambales and Palawan where the new FA-50 lead-in fighter trainer jets from South Korea will be making their home. These are the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga, in Subic Bay, Zambales, and the Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Two FA-50 lead-in fighter trainer jets bought from the Korea...

It’s a coin toss between China and Turkey for the title of least honest country, according to a new study. As part of a 15-nation honesty study, researchers from the University of East Anglia had the 1,500 subjects participate in a coin flip, telling them they’d get up to $5 every time it came up heads. The researchers theorized that if the percentage reporting heads was over 50 percent, participants were being dishonest, since heads statistically shows up only half the time. An estimated 70 percent of Chinese participants lied — the most dishonest of the bunch, according to the...

During the Marine Week 2015 exhibition which was held October 20 - 23 in Busan, South Korea, Hanwha Thales unveiled for the first time the Integrated Mast (I-MAST) system currently in development for the future third batch FFX frigate of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy). New Integrated Mast System for a potentional FFX Batch III Frigate unveiled by Hanwha Thales According to Hanwha Thales, the system in development is a multi-function digital multi-beam radar. It combines four planar active phased array multifunction radar antennas as well as four Infra-red search and track (IRST) sensors. Based on the FFX...

South Korea’s plan to export its T-50 trainer jets to Uzbekistan has met the opposition of the United States. An official at the Korea Aerospace Industries, the producer of the T-50, said on Saturday that Uzbekistan wants to import T-50 trainer jets, but Washington voiced opposition to Seoul’s exports of the aircraft citing its diplomatic policy. The official, however, said that the export plan did not completely break down, adding the Uzbek government is persuading the U.S. government on the matter. T-50 is South Korea’s first homegrown supersonic trainer jet, but avionics equipment, engines and other core components were imported...

SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi - Despite the recent controversy about Washington’s refusal to transfer technologies essential to building advanced fighter jets, Korea has already managed to develop some of the required systems, the JoongAng Ilbo learned Thursday. Washington informed Seoul in April that it would not issue licenses for the transfer of four technologies considered crucial for Korea’s project to develop new multirole fighters with more advanced capabilities. Under the KF-X program, the government planned to invest a total of 18.4 trillion won ($16.2 billion) to develop 120 jets by 2025. The U.S. rejection of the technology transfer was considered a major...

"This ring shall not be shaken , These keys shall never fall , I've given you my fullness , I've given you my all", Here are The Keys To The Kingdom ,seek me first in all you do , NOT just the big things BUT IN EVERY MATTER OF YOUR HEART , if you do this the Other KEYS will reveal themselves to you !

Lockheed Martin has detailed a proposal to supply former US Navy S-3B Viking anti-submarine warfare aircraft to the South Korean Navy. The work would see 12 S-3B's removed from long-term storage in the Arizona desert and updated with new equipment, says Clay Fearnow, director of maritime patrol programs at Lockheed Martin. Fearnow spoke to Flightglobal at the Lockheed Martin Chalet at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2015. Fearnow, a former S-3B pilot, says the type has a number of attributes that make it suitable for a return to active service. He says the type was retired mainly owing...

The U.S. is ready to negotiate with longtime adversary North Korea as it has with Iran, but Pyongyang has to be serious about abandoning nuclear weapons, President Obama said Friday. Obama was speaking after meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, a close ally, who echoed the U.S. leader's view. ·

Haircare Business Booms as Stressed Koreans Go Bald The market for haircare products is growing rapidly as over 10 million people suffer from hair loss. From wigs to potions that claim to make hair grow back, the industry is raking in the money. Beauty product manufacturers, supermarkets and department stores are scrambling to benefit from the emerging market. Hi-Mo, the nation's leading wig manufacturer, posted sales of W66.7 billion last year (US$1=W1,161). Although wigs are expensive, costing between W200,000 and W1.8 million, the company is seeing increasing demand. Cosmetics giant Amore Pacific released a series of new haircare products this...

Concerns are growing that the KF-X project to develop indigenous fighter jets may not go forward as scheduled due to the failure to receive four core technologies on F-35 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that the nation will push for cooperation with other foreign firms or autonomously develop the technologies. However, a DAPA official said Thursday that this would consequently delay the 8.5 trillion won project, codenamed KF-X. Lawmakers on the National Assembly Defense Committee and defense watchers said the failure to receive the four would cause a rise in production costs as...

Starting from next year, the South Korean Air Force will boost the ability of its KF-16 fighter jets to hit long-range targets. The Air Force revealed the plan on Tuesday in a report submitted to the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee for parliamentary inspection. To hit long-range targets, the Air Force will introduce Israeli-made bomb guidance kits known as "SPICE," an acronym for smart, precise impact and cost-effective. When dropped from a high altitude by KF-16s, the SPICE-2000 guided bombs can travel more than 50 kilometers and hit targets, including on the other side of a mountain. The Air Force...

The U.S. has refused to transfer core technologies connected to the next-generation F-35 fighter jets to Korea, throwing plans to acquire 40 of them for the Air Force into disarray. Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer, had agreed in negotiations in September last year to transfer the technologies to Korea. But U.S. government intervention means the entire project worth W20 trillion is up in the air (US$1=W1,177). According to data New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Ahn Gyu-baek obtained from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the military signed the contract with Lockheed Martin last September to buy 40 F-35As for W7.34 trillion....

enty-nine dogs that were once part of a "meat farm" in South Korea arrived Thursday in San Diego for possible adoption, part of a Humane Society program that hopes to end the Korean tradition of eating dog meat. "The dog meat trade is one of the most horrific forms of cruelty," said Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society. The Humane Society International has taken possession of more than 100 dogs from a South Korean farmer in recent months, paying the farmer to transition to other crops, according to news coverage in Korea. The dogs have...

(3rd LD) N. Korea vows to launch rocket 2015/09/15 01:17 (ATTN: UPDATES with US reaction; ADDS to dateline) SEOUL/WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday that it plans to launch a rocket at a time of its choosing as it has the right to conduct space research, cementing speculation over a provocation by the country near its key anniversary. North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration "is pushing forward in the final phase the development of a new earth observation satellite for weather forecast," the Korean Central News Agency said. "The world will clearly see a series of satellites...

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) — South Korea is moving ahead to introduce refurbished S-3 Viking anti-submarine warfare (ASW) planes to counter threats from North Korea, a military source said Sunday. The defense ministry insider said the proposal to incorporate 12 former U.S. Navy Vikings into service was approved late last month by a military program review group. The latest development comes after the Navy proposed taking over 20 Vikings that have been kept in storage since 2009 to shore up the country’s detection and attack capabilities against Pyongyang’s submarine fleet. The twin-turbofan powered planes served as the primary ASW platforms...

Does Italy still exist, or is it, as Metternich puts it, a geographic expression? By joining the Euro, it lost its monetary sovereignty. It lost its territorial sovereignty after its defeat in the second world war with occupation by the Americans who have never left since then. It lost its military sovereignty as it is now reduced to taking orders from the USA and organising pretend peace missions in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and bombing Libya (thanks also to grandpa Napolitano)/ The fall of Gaddafi is the cause of the immigration of biblical proportions - from that country that no...

Seoul refuses to back down and demands apology from Kim Jong-un for landmine blast it claims maimed two soldiers - North Korea's state media - Korean Central News Agency - has just issued another Shakespearean tirade against the South, accusing it of "false propaganda." Quote They [South Korea] claimed the DPRK "promulgated a decree on establishing a donation system" and "the society in the north has turned into the one where loyalty can be bought and sold." They asserted this was a "reliable source" from North Hamgyong Province. They even took issue with the newly built Pyongyang Home for the...

Former President Bill Clinton made remarks on the North Korea nuclear deal on Oct. 18, 1994, which mirrors the statements made by President Barack Obama on the current Iran nuclear deal.