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SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korean troops along their heavily fortified border exchanged gunfire for the first time in about a year, a military official said on Tuesday, with the incident coming as ties between the two have soured. North Korean troops fired two shots at a South Korean guard post near the Demilitarised Zone on Monday night and South Korean troops returned six shots, an official said by telephone. "No one was injured in the incident," the Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. One of the shots hit the guard post, causing South Korean troops to immediately return...

The South Korean air force (ROKAF) formally accepted the first two production Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic advanced jet trainers this week in a hand-over ceremony in at the manufacturer's Sacheon facilities. KAI T-50 TNThe ROKAF became the first customer for the T-50, manufactured by KAI with development assistance from Lockheed Martin, with an order for 25 T-50s in December 2003. The T-50 made its public début at the Seoul air show in October has been undergoing flight tests during the final quarter of 2005. The South Korean defence procurement agency now has orders for 50 T-50...

KWANGJU, South Korea — The 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade celebrated its one-year anniversary in South Korea with ceremonies on Thursday and Friday. The brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery — located at Kwangju — celebrated Thursday with a flagging ceremony. The brigade arrived a year ago from Fort Bliss, Texas. About 400 battalion soldiers, U.S. and South Korean guests gathered in the theater at Kwangju, a South Korean Air Force base, on Thursday. The ceremony began with a brief slide show of soldiers working and playing on base and in the community. Battalion commander Lt. Col. Marcus C....

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- A total of 14 South Korean vehicles carrying aid shipments for the Iraqi people have been seized by unidentified armed militants in Iraq since last month, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. But no South Korean nationals were captured or detained during the seizures, the ministry said, adding that the vehicles all belong to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). "The South Korean vehicles were seized near Baghdad by some armed militants on two occasions, Sept. 19 and 21, while transporting aid materials from the Jordanian port of Aqaba to Baghdad," the ministry said in...

South Korea will establish an integrated operation command of the Army by 2010, as part of efforts to build more future-oriented armed forces, the Defense Ministry said during a Sept. 5 briefing. Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung unveiled a comprehensive reform plan of the military, focusing on downsizing the country's 680,000 troops by one-fourth by 2020, a senior ministry official said. Under the plan, the ministry will reduce troops in three stages to around 500,000 by 2020, while boosting its defense capability through more advanced weapons systems. About 40,000 troops will be cut by 2008. To achieve a more balanced improvement...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 2, 2005 — The Republic of Korea Army replaced their 100th Construction Engineer Army Group with 147 new, fresh soldiers. An advanced group of Korean engineers arrived at Bagram Airfield Aug. 13 and the main body followed shortly after, arriving Aug. 25-29. They will keep the same name as the previous group -- the 100th Construction Engineer Army Group. "We are well aware of the sufferings of the people caused by the cruelties of war. That is the very reason we're here in Afghanistan, as a dependable comrade to our coalition forces and as a friendly...

Iraq Insurgents in First Attack on Korean Troops Korea's Zaytun Division in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil took cover late Sunday evening when four shells presumably fired by insurgents landed near the unit's base compound, the first direct attack on Korean troops since they were deployed to the area last September. There were no casualties among Korean soldiers or civilians, but the division's activity is likely to be curtailed for some time. "At around 11:00 p.m., there were blasts and flames as two shells landed in wheat fields 500 m south of the Zaytun Division base walls, and two...

. South Korea put its security forces on alert after Muslims were urged to resist the United States and its allies around the world in an audio tape believed to be from al Qaeda's deputy leader, government officials said Saturday. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who heads the National Security Council (NSC) that oversees all security portfolios -- including intelligence, defense and foreign affairs -- convened an emergency meeting Saturday, an NSC spokeswoman said. She declined to say what was discussed at the meeting, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung and other key security...

South Korea's military completed deployment of its 2,800-strong contingent in Iraq on Wednesday and its commander said protecting his troops was at the top of his agenda. Major-General Hwang Eui-don met Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in the Kurdish capital to discuss security and planned projects for his peacekeeping and reconstruction force. South Korea has the third-largest contingent in Iraq after the United States and Britain. Eui-don said the visit was intended to show appreciation for the welcome given to Korean troops in northern Iraq's Kurdish zone, but that the emphasis of the talks was on security arrangements for his...

Click Here to View S. Korean Troops in Training for Iraq Mission

South Korea is currently in the news for providing some 3000 troops to the Iraqi "pacification effort." I would invite you that served in Vietnam to comment on how effective you believe ROK forces will be towards this effort, based on your observations of them in action in Vietnam. My own recollections are of a very active Korean established Black Market and some situations where US forces had to protect the locals from ROK retribution. Who knows, maybe that is what the situation calls for?

SEOUL, June 23 (Reuters) - South Korea condemned the beheading of a South Korean hostage by Muslim militants in Iraq as an "inhumane act of terror" on Wednesday and vowed to go ahead with plans to deploy 3,000 more troops to the country. In the southern port city of Pusan, the parents of 33-year-old Kim Sun-il sat cross-legged and stunned in their modest backstreet house as relatives and neighbours sought to console a daughter wailing and thrashing around in grief. "The government strongly condemns the killing of Kim Sun-il by a terrorist group in Iraq as an inhumane act of...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea said Wednesday it would send troops to Iraq despite the killing of a South Korean hostage whose captors had demanded that the government cancel the deployment. "The South Korean government reconfirms its position that it will send troops to Iraq to help reconstruction, and as a humanitarian assistant," said Shin Bong-kil, the main spokesman of the South Korean Foreign Ministry. He spoke after a 90-minute emergency meeting of the National Security Council, which discussed the killing of hostage Kim Sun-il. "The South Korean government strongly condemns the killing of Mr. Kim Sun-il as...

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South Korea will start to deploy 3,000 troops to Iraq's Arbil area in early August to help build the northern region. The announcement caps months of debate in South Korea on a pledge first made to United States President George W Bush by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in October last year and approved by Parliament in February. Ministry spokesman Nam Dai-yeon told reporters an initial contingent would be sent to Iraq in early August, followed later that month and in early September by the main force. "The site is Arbil. The regional government there welcomed our troops and promised...

American, Korean engineers ‘cement’ friendship by Master Sgt. Jeff Szczechowski455th Expeditionary Operations Group Pubic Affairs 5/28/2004 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Two old friends got together on the flightline here recently, and the result is an expanded strategic airlift ramp that will significantly enhance current operations. It will also serve as a key enabler for a major airfield military construction, refurbishment and replacement project that will begin soon. The 455th Expeditionary Operations Group’s civil engineer flight Airmen and the South Korean army’s 100th Korean Engineer Corps soldiers worked on a project that increased parking space for wide-body aircraft and provided them...

Updated May.20,2004 22:30 KST Kurds Welcomes Korean Forces and Promises Full Cooperation ARBIL -- It was confirmed Thursday that the Kurdish autonomous government recently sent a letter in the name of its leader to the Korean government, promising that they would lend its full support to the Korean forces dispatched to Iraq to use Arbil Airport. Accordingly, it is expected that the deployment of the Zayitun Unit will progress in full swing. The Korean government reiterated that it would not withdraw its dispatch plan. According to a high-ranking official of the Kurdish Unified Parliamentary, the Kurdish autonomous government, which controls...

Following U.S.’ decision to shift some of its troops from here to Iraq, calls are increasing here in Korea to review its plan to send its troops to the war-torn country. Here are interviews with leaders of the two schools of opinion on the issue. - EDChang Young-dal, chairman of the Assembly¡¯s National Defense Committee, urged Seoul to press for the planned troop dispatch to Iraq despite the redeployment of part of United States Forces Korea (USFK) to the Middle Eastern country. ``Given the current situation, the withdrawal of the plan for an additional ROK military dispatch to Iraq would...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea remains committed to deploying troops to Iraq despite the surge in violence there, but their task will remain purely reconstruction, the country's foreign minister said on Monday. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters the government remained firmly committed to plans approved by parliament in February to send 3,000 troops in addition to the 600 that went to Iraq nearly a year ago. "This is not an issue of sending the troops because things are stable and not sending them because things are not," he told a news conference. South Korea holds a parliamentary election on...

<p>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea will send nearly 3,600 troops to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the military said Friday, two weeks after Seoul rattled allies by scrubbing plans for a mission to the northern town of Kirkuk.</p>