Ministry of National Defense

Cambodia’s modest navy is ap­parently a point of sensitivity for its commander, who on Wednesday said he would seek to acquire two warships from China to prevent neigh­boring countries from “looking down” on his fleet. ...

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces commander-in-chief Pol Saroeun yesterday told hundreds of the Kingdom’s top military brass to be more like Prime Minister Hun Sen and join the information age via smartphones and social media. ...

Three Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships dropped anchor in Cambodian waters yesterday, mooring at a Sihanoukville provincial port for a three-day visit meant to strengthen the relationship and boost bilateral ties between Cambodia and Japan, according to General Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the National Defense ...

The final two weeks of February will feature visits to Sihanoukville from both the Japanese and Chinese navies to conduct goodwill and training exercises, as the two powers vie for influence and allies in Southeast Asia amid increasing Asian nautical tensions. ...

A high official from the Japanese Defense Ministry (JDM) has lobbied for Cambodia and another ASEAN members to support the creation of a meeting between their defense ministers and the JDM to be held next year in Laos, according to officials at a meeting at ...

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. ...