[Column] Stay out of the US missile defense system

Posted on : 2013-05-16 17:15 KST Modified on : 2013-05-16 17:15 KST
President Park should avoid getting caught up in a campaign to solidify US military hegemony

By Goh Young-dae, senior researcher at the Research Institute of Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea

The recent summit between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and US President Barack Obama has added momentum the possibility that South Korea might participate in the US missile defense system. At a joint conference after the summit, Obama said, “We’re investing in the shared capabilities and technologies and missile defenses that allow our forces to operate and succeed together.”

Obama’s remarks coincide with movements by the South Korean military to increase its participation in the US missile defense. ROK forces are pushing to link the country’s own Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) with the theater missile defense (TMD) provided by US forces based in South Korea and are hoping to deploy SM-3 missiles. These developments effectively make South Korea’s participation in US missile defense a fait accompli.

Until now, the South Korean army had been insisting that the KAMD was unrelated to the US missile defense. But if the KAMD is linked to the TMD operated by US forces in Korea, it would mean that if the KAMD shoots down missiles launched by North Korea, it would be using interceptor missiles provided by the US army, based on information provided by the US army, relying on the targeting control system of the US army. In other words, it would be a Korean missile defense system in name only. In reality, it would become part of the US TMD, making South Korea a forward base for the US missile defense system.

Not only that, but operational control of “Korean missile defense” would be exercised by the commander of the US air force in South Korea. Considering that the US commander would retain this control even after the planned US transfer of operational control to South Korea, it is a misnomer to call this a “Korean” missile defense system.

Furthermore, the SM-3 missile is not a weapon system that is intended to intercept short-range missiles launched by North Korea at the South. The SM-3 missile is designed to take out mid-range missiles aimed at US bases in Okinawa or Guam, and the SM-3 Block IIA and IIB would even be able to intercept ICBMs headed for the US mainland.

For this reason, if ROK forces deploy SM-3 missiles, they would not primarily be in place to defend South Korea, but rather to protect the US mainland and US military bases in Asia. This would mean that South Korea was fully participating in a US missile defense system that is unrelated to the defense of South Korea.

In addition, the accuracy of Korean missile defense against North Korean missiles will not necessarily improve just because South Korea participates in the US missile defense system.

During the first Gulf War in 1991, the US military attempted to shoot down Iraqi scud missiles with Patriots, but failed to down even one of the 44 missiles that were launched. The failure was due to the fact that the missiles used by Iraq spun in midair during their flight. While the Patriot’s warhead and sensors continue to evolve today, technological limitations such as these remain unsolved.

Even worse, it would only take 3-4 minutes for North Korean missiles to reach South Korea, which doesn’t allow enough time for interception. A joint study carried out by US and ROK authorities concluded that the Patriot missile would not be effective at intercepting short-range North Korean missiles.

Further, US and South Korean authorities have agreed to set up a so-called “kill chain” by 2015, which could be used to strike North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles. The ROK military is planning to apply the concept of preemptive strike in the kill chain. Threatening a preemptive strike on North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles is tantamount to inciting North Korea to make its own preemptive nuclear strike. Rashly entering a game where the stakes are this high jeopardizes the safety of the Korean people and national security.

The missile defense system is the measure the US is employing to maintain its military superiority after the end of the Cold War. The US has already started setting up a missile defense system in Europe based on the SM-3 missile, and now it is pushing forward with the development of similar systems in East Asia and the Middle East. It hopes to create local missile defense systems that can connect these disparate parts.

Consequently, for South Korea to participate in the US missile defense system is to take part in this pursuit of global hegemony and to embark on an irrevocable collision course with North Korea, China, and Russia.

For these reasons, previous South Korean administrations have opposed participating in a US-led missile defense system, or at least have maintained a strategic ambiguity on the subject. But previous president Lee Myung-bak ignored all of these factors and took the first steps toward collaborating with the US missile defense plan, and now Park Geun-hye is moving toward full-fledged participation in the program.

Nobody in South Korea wants to see their lives or property become a target for nuclear and missile attacks by North Korea, China, or Russia in order to preserve the security of the US. Park must not bring such a situation about.

The views presented in this column are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Hankyoreh.

 

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