South Korea has agreed to buy a fleet of U.S. Apache attack helicopters, at a time of heightened tensions with North Korea.
The South's defense acquisition agency says it will buy 36 of the helicopters from aircraft maker Boeing over a three-year period starting in 2016.
The agency says the helicopters are intended to replace a fleet of aging Army helicopters and to help deter provocations from the North.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting the deal is worth about $1.5 billion.
For weeks, North Korea has made repeated threats of a possible nuclear attack, including against the U.S. mainland.
Pyongyang has been angered in part by joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it sees as a prelude to an invasion of the North. Washington and Seoul have insisted the drills are defensive.
The South's defense acquisition agency says it will buy 36 of the helicopters from aircraft maker Boeing over a three-year period starting in 2016.
The agency says the helicopters are intended to replace a fleet of aging Army helicopters and to help deter provocations from the North.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting the deal is worth about $1.5 billion.
For weeks, North Korea has made repeated threats of a possible nuclear attack, including against the U.S. mainland.
Pyongyang has been angered in part by joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it sees as a prelude to an invasion of the North. Washington and Seoul have insisted the drills are defensive.