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The top American military officer here has proposed that South Korea buy a key U.S. underground command bunker on the outskirts of Seoul, as his troops will move to an area south of the Han River, relinquishing wartime operational control to Korean commanders, a source at the Combined Forces Command (CFC) said Sunday. CFC Commander Gen. Walter Sharp, who concurrently heads the 28,000-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), made the proposal to South Korea during the Key Resolve command-post exercise that ended Thursday, the source told The Korea Times. The Ministry of National Defense is reviewing the offer but has yet...

US experts in weapons of mass destruction are taking part in a military exercise simulating an attack by North Korea on South Korea, the US commander in the South said Thursday. The communist North has bitterly denounced the US-South Korean exercise as a preparation for a nuclear attack, and vowed to respond to any aggression with its atomic weapons. The visiting experts are from a team called Task Force Elimination, of the Maryland-based 20th Support Command. US commander General Walter Sharp said they brought unique WMD expertise to the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drill, in which 18,000 American troops and 20,000...

American and South Korean military members kicked off Exercise Key Resolve/FOAL Eagle 10 March 8 and will train for 10 days here. The annual joint/combined command post and field training exercise is defense-oriented and designed to ensure the South Korean and U.S. alliance is prepared to defend against outside aggression. "Key Resolve is our combined Joint Chief of Staff exercise where we train and prepare for conflict," said Col. Danny Wolf, the 7th AF director of operations and plans. "It's a command and control exercise where we have Combined Forces Command working in concert with the ROK, JCS and all...

The United States and South Korea began their annual joint military exercise on Monday, dismissing a verbal warning by North Korea, which views the drill as a preparation for war. The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise is to continue across South Korea through March 18, drawing about 18,000 U.S. troops from bases here and abroad and mobilizing more than 20,000 South Korean troops. The U.S. says the drill is a routine exercise to improve its ability to defend South Korea, but North Korea insists it is a precursor to invasion. On Sunday, North Korea said in a statement it...

The United States and South Korea will go ahead next month with a major annual military exercise set to anger North Korea but fewer US troops than last year will take part, officials said Thursday. North Korea denounces the exercise and other annual military drills in the South as a rehearsal for invasion, a claim denied by Seoul and Washington. The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise, slated for March 8-18, will draw 18,000 US troops including 10,000 stationed in South Korea and 8,000 from abroad, said Combined Forces Command spokesman Kim Yong-Kyu. Some 26,000 US troops took part in...

North Korea yesterday threatened to take military action against South Korea for “anti-republic attempts to topple” the North Korean regime. Issued jointly by the Ministry of People’s Security and the National Security Agency, the threat came on the same day that the two Koreas discussed resuming suspended tours to Mount Kumgang and Kaesong north of the border. The two North agencies threatened to “mercilessly pulverize” those who attempt to damage the North’s national security by mobilizing all its troops and security forces. The statement criticized the South Korean Navy’s efforts to defend the Northern Limit Line, the disputed maritime border...