North Korea fires around 10 ballistic missiles toward sea off east coast, Seoul says

October 29, 2026 3:10 PM

North Korea fires around 10 ballistic missiles toward sea off east coast, Seoul says

North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The missiles were launched at around 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT) from an area around Wonsan on North Korea's eastern coast, the JCS said in a statement. South Korea's military was strengthening surveillance and maintaining readiness in case of additional launches, while closely sharing information with the United States and Japan, it added. Japan's Defe...

South Korea’s military has shrunk by 20% in six years as male population drops

August 10, 2025 5:53 PM

South Korea’s military has shrunk by 20% in six years as male population drops

South Korea's military shrank by 20% in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world's lowest birthrate, a report said on Sunday. The dramatic decline in the pool of available males for military service is also causing a shortfall in the number of officers and could result in operational difficulty if it continues, the defence ministry said in the report. The report was made to...