hankyoreh

A private U.S. intelligence group says that Washington is somewhat wary about selling Seoul state-of-the-art military technology, as it might upset the regional balance of power.

Stratfor, a nonpartisan, conservative private intelligence agency, said in a September 25 podcast on their web site titled "Korean Defense" that the U.S. has kept South Korea militarily weak so that in case of North Korean aggression, the South Korean military can act as an "auxiliary force" until U.S. reinforcements arrive, and then only as a "supplement" to a U.S. counterattack against North Korea.

The group’s podcast said that the largest concern for the U.S. is Korea’s rivalry with Japan. The group said that the two share "a growing competition for natural resouces, trade routes, markets, and investments. There also are territorial disputes, and the Japanese military is far ahead of South Korea’s in technological development." The group suggested that any buildup of the South Korean military could upset the balance of power in the region.

The group has said that the U.S. is balking at selling South Korea the Global Hawk, a high-altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with a 5,500-meter radius.

South Korea and the United States held an annual Defense Technological and Industrial Cooperation Committee (DTICC) in Washington on September 25-26 and discussed ways to cooperate in the defense industry, including the purchase of the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.

"Seoul is now looking to build a defense force for the future that is capable not only of deterring or repelling North Korean agression but also of ensuring South Korea’s broader security interests, from balancing Chinese and Japanese power to protecting supply lines through the straits of Malaca to the Middle East," the group said.

"That is the conundrum facing Washington today," the group said.