Ministry of National Defense

The Cambodian and Thai military will step up cooperation to crack down on crime along their extensive border to improve security and make conditions easier for boosting cross-border trade.  ...

As more than 3,000 young people from across the country took the military entrance exam Sunday, vying for just 620 positions in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), Hun Manet, a senior defense official and the prime minister’s eldest son, vowed to eliminate “irregularities” within ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday promoted Ke Leng, who recently won her second world championship in petanque, from the rank of captain to major in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and promised her $40,000 for her victory. ...

Authorities have bolstered security across Cambodia in response to last week’s coordinated terror attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead, according to a statement posted to the National Police’s website on Tuesday. ...

A U.S. naval fleet docked in Sihanoukville on Monday for the sixth annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) exercises with the Royal Cambodian Navy. ...

Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan arrives today for a four-day visit to boost ties, at a time of rising tensions in the South China Sea between Beijing and the US over China’s increasingly aggressive stance over territorial disputes with its neighbors in the area. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Sunday that civil servants and members of the armed forces will receive a minimum monthly salary of about $250 by 2018, the next year a national election is scheduled to be held. ...

The first two days of a new crackdown on the improper use of military license plates have focused on vehicles parked at the National Military Police Headquarters in Phnom Penh, a spokesman said Tuesday. ...

During a closed-door meeting on Monday, Defense Minister Tea Banh told a Vietnamese counterpart of the CPP’s success in suppressing an opposition campaign to highlight border incursions by Vietnam and urged Hanoi to help ensure that the issue does not re-emerge. ...

Against the sound of heavy drumming and chanting, the commercial quickly flips from scenes of elephant-mounted Angkorian warriors to the present day—young military cadets jogging in formation, performing calisthenics and playing football. ...

More than 600 cadets will be recruited to become military officers, the Ministry of Defence announced yesterday.Recruits for the 2015-2016 class will be selected from candidates of both sexes, aged 18-25, in good health and with clean criminal records. ...

With public statements of their own over the weekend, the national police and armed forces dutifully fell in behind Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call on Friday for swift legal action against anyone who still dared to dispute that his government was using the right maps ...

Defense Minister Tea Banh met Malaysia’s army chief, Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor, yesterday to discuss ways to improve military ties between the two countries. ...

Military, government and ruling party officials on Thursday distanced themselves from deputy military commander Chea Dara’s comments this week that the “army belongs to the Cambodian People’s Party,” insisting that the military remains neutral. ...

Cambodia’s armed forces belong to the country’s ruling party and must prevent a “color revolution” from overtaking the Southeast Asian nation, a four-star general said Wednesday, drawing criticism from an opposition official who called his understanding of the military’s role “limited.” ...

Some 5,000 security personnel were called to the headquarters of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit in Kandal province on Thursday, where the premier said they must protect Cambodia’s territorial integrity, according to a number of officials in attendance. ...

National Military Police Commander Sao Sokha on Tuesday painted a rosy picture of the country during a ceremony in Phnom Penh to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of a wing of the armed forces that has been routinely called upon to crush dissent. ...

This week, Cambodia’s government ignored pressure from Europe and the United States and passed the NGO law. ...

During a five-day state visit to China that starts today, Defense Minister Tea Banh will meet with officials from the Union Development Group, a Chinese firm that has evicted hundreds of families to make way for its tourism development in Koh Kong province. ...

A Malaysian-flagged oil tanker that was hijacked by pirates last week was spotted in Cambodian waters by the Australian air force Thursday, according to Malaysian state media. Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, however, said the vessel never passed through the country’s territorial sea. ...

Late CPP President Chea Sim’s personal bodyguard unit will be disbanded following the cremation of his body on Friday and its members returned to their former police departments and military brigades, officials said Monday. ...

Mam Sonando, a prominent radio station director and government critic, announced Friday that he would resign from his position as head of the Association of Democrats, an NGO he founded in 2010, in order to create a new political party to stand in the upcoming ...

When Defense Minister Tea Banh addressed graduates last month at Cambodia’s prestigious Army Institute, he directed his thanks to the guests who made it all possible: a group of crisply dressed officers from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). ...

Defense ministers from the 10 nations of the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) agreed here Monday to cooperate in tackling the grave security threat from the Islamic State (IS). At the end of the two-day 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting, the ministers signed a joint declaration ...