ROK-U.S. News

SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States are not considering the deployment of an additional THAAD anti-missile system here, Seoul’s defense ministry said Monday amid a heated debate on the issue rekindled ahead of the March 9 presidential election.

Boo Seung-chan, the ministry spokesperson, made the remarks, following a media report that a government-commissioned research in 2015 noted the need for South Korea’s military to acquire its own THAAD battery separately from the one currently run by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

“Regarding the issue about the introduction of an additional THAAD unit, South Korea and the U.S. have not been planning any additional deployment nor have they been considering it,” Boo told a regular press briefing.

Boo pointed out that South Korea’s military has been developing its own interception system, called L-SAM (Long-range Surface-to-Air Missile), to establish a multilayered, low-tier missile defense system.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has emerged as a hot-button issue in the election season as Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, pledged last month to push for an “additional THAAD deployment” following a series of North Korean missile tests.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party, has cautioned against an additional THAAD deployment, warning it could trigger pushback from China, South Korea’s largest trading partner.

Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220207005000325?section=national/defense

News articles do not necessarily reflect the views of KDVA. Any copyrighted materials depicted on this web site are presented for educational purposes only and no claim of ownership is made by KDVA.

By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) — North Korea’s weekend launch of an “intermediate-and long-range” ballistic missile underscores the intransigent regime’s stated arms buildup in progress under a go-it-alone approach and its eagerness to tighten internal solidarity ahead of key political events, analysts here said Monday.

In its seventh show of force this year, Pyongyang launched the Hwasong 12-type missile Sunday, just days ahead of the Beijing Olympics and despite dialogue overtures by Seoul and Washington.

The latest launch came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is apparently intent on whipping up national pride ahead of major holidays — the 80th birthday of his late father, Kim Jong-il, on Feb. 16 and the 110th birthday of his late grandfather Kim Il-sung on April 15, the analysts said.

The North’s saber-rattling has posed an unsettling setback for Seoul striving to salvage its fragile peace drive, Washington preoccupied with tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and Beijing setting the mood for its successful hosting of the Winter Olympics set to begin Friday.

“The North appears to be moving under its own timelines for its weapons development projects unveiled at the eighth ruling party congress last year and for its major political events,” a security expert said on condition of anonymity. “Internal factors appear to have much influence on its course of action.”

Amid a protracted deadlock in nuclear talks with the United States, the North has been doubling down on the five high-stakes defense projects it put forward at the eighth congress of the ruling Workers’ Party in January last year.

The projects include developing a hypersonic warhead, raising the “hit rates” of missiles with the range of 15,000 kilometers, producing a “super-large” nuclear warhead and developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) using an “underground or ground solid-fuel engine.”

At the congress, the North also stressed the need to develop tactical nuclear weapons, and secure a nuclear-powered submarine and a nuclear strategic weapon capable of being launched underwater as it castigated the “military threat from the U.S.”

Evidence has been mounting that the North has been trying to accomplish those projects.

Sunday’s launch of what South Korea’s military categorizes as an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) might be part of efforts to enhance the accuracy of a longer-range missile and its atmospheric reentry technology, and develop a vehicle capable of delivering a tactical nuclear weapon, experts said.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stressed Monday that the Hwasong-12 missile is “being produced and deployed” — an indication that it has completed its operational deployment following its 2017 claim to have completed its development.

The KCNA also released images of its liftoff from a mobile launcher and flight during the boost phase, as well as those of the Earth taken in space. The images appear to have been taken by drones and a camera installed in the payload.

Pyongyang also conducted self-proclaimed hypersonic missile tests on Jan. 5 and 11 following the first such test last September.

“Through the development of weapons, the North appears to have boosted the morale of its people when the country as a whole is grappling with worsening economic hardships in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the security expert said.

“It’s a typical pattern in which the North highlights external threats to reinforce internal cohesion, engages in provocations and then utilizes subsequent international sanctions to underscore the threats from without,” he added.

The North’s apparent move to brinkmanship comes in the lead-up to the country’s major holidays when there is an apparent political imperative for the regime to instill a sense of pride into its citizens struggling with ever-worsening economic travails.

“Pyongyang also wants to boost national pride as it gears up to celebrate political anniversaries in the context of economic struggles,” Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, said.

Domestic factors have emerged as a crucial variable in the analysis of motives behind the North’s weapons tests as a set of external elements, including the Beijing Games, had been expected to deter Pyongyang’s military moves.

This month, the North conducted four known rounds of missile tests in sites close to the border with China, although it might be aware Beijing does not want the launches to overshadow the Olympics, especially following the U.S.’ diplomatic boycott of the event.

In particular, the move is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology, which would force China into joining the global move to consider or roll out new punitive measures against its neighbor.

Observers said the launches close to the border could signal either the North’s possible friction with its patron, China, or Beijing’s acquiescence to the weapons tests.

The North’s missile testing frenzy has also stumped some analysts that had thought Pyongyang could take a wait-and-see stance for the time being as its year-end ruling party plenary did not send any particular message to Seoul and Washington while focusing on chronic food shortages and other domestic issues.

The provocative mode is seen as an ominous sign that the North could further ratchet up tensions with more powerful weapons tests as it issued a thinly veiled threat on Jan. 20 to lift a voluntary moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests declared in April 2018.

Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, said that the test of the latest IRBM potentially capable of delivering a tactical nuclear warhead could mark a culmination of the North’s decadeslong drive for nuclear armament.

“The nuclear-tipped IRBM and other missiles could keep South Korea, Japan and even Guam hostage, and lead to a situation in which the removal of such tactical arms becomes impossible, meaning the North cannot help but be viewed as a de facto nuclear power,” Park said.

“Then would come the next stage of nuclear arms restrictions (between the U.S. and the North) rather than the North’s denuclearization,” he added.

For South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the North’s escalatory military actions mean a major blow to his peace initiative where he has put much political capital.

But those actions might have served as a sobering reminder for the Joe Biden administration whose repeated dialogue offers to the North have started to be taken with a grain of salt or written off as perfunctory, observers noted.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220131000400325?section=national/defense

News articles do not necessarily reflect the views of KDVA. Any copyrighted materials depicted on this web site are presented for educational purposes only and no claim of ownership is made by KDVA.

By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) — North Korea seems to have test-fired at least two cruise missiles from an inland area, a South Korean official said, in what would be Pyongyang’s fifth known round of missile launches this year.

“We still need to conduct a detailed analysis (on the launches),” the military official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “But I want to say that should such a missile be launched southward, our detection and interception systems have no problem countering it.”

The official did not offer details, including origins and targets.

The North conducted the last known test of a cruise missile in September last year. At the time, it claimed to have fired a “new-type long-range cruise missile,” calling it a “strategic weapon of great significance.”

A cruise missile test does not run afoul of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology.

Usually, the South’s military does not make any formal announcement or statement in response to the North’s cruise missile tests, versus swift public reaction against its ballistic missile activities.

The North fired what it called two tactical guided missiles on Jan. 17, just three days after its purported test-firing of two other missiles by its railway-borne unit.

It also shot what it claims to be hypersonic missiles on Jan. 5 and 11, raising concerns they could dodge South Korea’s missile defense, though the authenticity of the assertions has yet to be vouched for.

In a sign the recalcitrant regime could engage in more provocative acts, Pyongyang made a thinly-veiled threat last Thursday to lift its yearslong self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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News articles do not necessarily reflect the views of KDVA. Any copyrighted materials depicted on this web site are presented for educational purposes only and no claim of ownership is made by KDVA.

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook called on all armed services Wednesday to unify their “will and efforts” to ensure this year’s planned assessment required for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) will proceed successfully.

Suh made the remarks during a meeting of top commanders to evaluate South Korea’s efforts to retake OPCON from the United States, as the allies are set to stage the full operational capability (FOC) assessment later this year.

“Especially, the minister stressed the need for all armed services to unify their will and efforts for a successful FOC assessment,” the defense ministry said in a press release.

The minister also portrayed the conditions-based OPCON transfer as an essential task to achieve the goal of “steadfast” defense under the mindset that “our defense is our responsibility,” according to the ministry.

Wednesday’s meeting was attended by top South Korean defense officials, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and top commanders of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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Article: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220119006100325?section=national/defense

News articles do not necessarily reflect the views of KDVA. Any copyrighted materials depicted on this web site are presented for educational purposes only and no claim of ownership is made by KDVA.

By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States are considering postponing their combined springtime military exercise, usually held in March, to April due to the March 9 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple sources said Thursday.

The allies have been discussing the possible delay in consideration of the virus’ unabated spread and the need to ensure South Korean troops can exercise their voting rights in the election unhindered by the round-the-clock command post training, the sources said.

The move also comes amid worries that preparations for the exercise, albeit defensive in nature, could impede Seoul’s efforts to resume inter-Korean dialogue and could go against the Olympic spirit of peace at the Beijing Games slated for next month.

“There have been discussions on the possible postponement due to the election season and the coronavirus woes,” an informed source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.

Seoul and Washington conduct two major regular joint exercises each year — one in March and the other in August — to reinforce their defense capabilities against possible North Korean aggression.

For past major allied exercises, South Korea’s presidential election hardly affected their timing as voting took place in December.

But Election Day changed to March 9 in 2017 following the ouster of former scandal-hit President Park Geun-hye. Incumbent President Moon Jae-in began his single, five-year term in May that year, two months after the election.

Asked to confirm the allies’ discussions on the exercise, Seoul’s defense ministry said the two sides are still in talks over the details.

“The authorities of South Korea and the U.S. are in consultation over the specific timing and method of the exercise,” a ministry official told Yonhap on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) refused to comment on the exercise plans.

“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on planned or executed combined training, and any decision regarding combined training will be made by the U.S.-ROK alliance,” USFK spokesperson Col. Lee Peters told Yonhap. ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea.

On Tuesday last week, Boo Seong-chan, the ministry’s spokesperson, said that details, including the timing and scale of this year’s combined exercises, have yet to be finalized.

His remarks came after Radio Free Asia reported that the U.S. Department of Defense said there have been “no changes” to the schedule for the allies’ training and exercise.

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) — Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan held phone talks Thursday to discuss North Korea’s recent missile launches and reaffirmed the importance of trilateral security cooperation, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

The phone talks came two days after North Korea fired what it claimed to be a hypersonic missile into the East Sea, the second such launch in less than a week.

During the conversation, Deputy Defense Minister Kim Man-ki, Ely Ratner, the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, and Kazuo Masuda from the Japanese defense ministry shared their views on the security situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula, including the North’s latest missile launches, according to the ministry.

“South Korea and the U.S., in particular, agreed to accelerate an in-depth analysis and preparations of response measures against North Korea’s growing missile threats,” the ministry said in a statement.

The officials reaffirmed the importance of security cooperation among the three countries, and agreed to hold three-way defense ministerial talks at an agreed upon date, it added.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan earlier pushed for a defense ministerial meeting in Hawaii this month, but postponed the schedule due to the virus situation.

The three countries last held a trilateral defense ministerial meeting on the margins of security talks involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok in November 2019.

By Choi Soo-hyang

SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) — North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully conducted the final test-firing of a new hypersonic missile a day earlier, as it continues to develop new weapons systems amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s defense ministry said the North fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile into the East Sea which flew over 700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 km and a top speed of Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound.

“The test-fire was aimed at the final verification of overall technical specifications of the developed hypersonic weapon system,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the firing.

During Tuesday’s test, the hypersonic glide vehicle demonstrated “glide jump flight,” “corkscrew maneuvering,” and hit “the set target in waters 1,000 km off.”

“The superior maneuverability of the hypersonic glide vehicle was more strikingly verified through the final test-fire,” the KCNA said.

The latest firing marked the North’s second missile launch in less than a week.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier downplayed the North’s hypersonic missile claims as “exaggeration,” but said the latest launch demonstrated “improvement” from the previously tested versions.

The North conducted the first test-firing of what it claimed to be a “hypersonic” missile Hwasong-8 in last September, though the missile flew at a speed of around Mach 3 at that time.

Developing a hypersonic weapon was one of the North’s “five core tasks” under a five-year plan to strengthen its defense capabilities unveiled at its eighth party congress held a year ago.

On Tuesday, Kim again stressed “the need to further accelerate the efforts to steadily build up the country’s strategic military muscle both in quality and quantity.”

The North’s latest saber-rattling came as nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled since the no-deal Hanoi summit in February 2019.

President Moon Jae-in expressed concern over North Korea’s repeated missile launches ahead of South Korea’s presidential election in March, and ordered officials to come up with measures to ensure “no further tension in inter-Korean relations.”

The White House also condemned North Korea’s latest launch and urged the North to engage in dialogue.

scaaet@yna.co.kr
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