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By Ha Eo-young, staff reporter
South Korea and the United States agreed to set up a system for follow-up measures on revised missile guidelines in response to the North Korean asymmetric threat.
They also made plans to put the finishing touches on their alliance by collaborating to refine a combined command structure for after the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) to South Korea in 2015.
The plans were included in an Oct. 24 joint communique by Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin and US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta following the 44th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington.
In the communique, the two ministers said they had reaffirmed that North Korea’s policies and provocations, including proliferation of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, posed a serious threat to regional stability and global security.
They also said they had reviewed South Korea’s 2012 revision of its missile guidelines and agreed that the revised guidelines guaranteeing South Korean missile and unmanned aircraft capability improvements were key to a comprehensive approach toward the alliance’s missile threat response strategy.
On North Korea’s nuclear, chemical, and biological ballistic missiles, Kim and Panetta said they had agreed to promote the efficacy of extended deterrence through a customized strategy involving the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee.
Speaking about the response to the missile threat, a Ministry of National Defense official said, “There could be some areas where South Korea contributes in a limited way to the US-led missile defense system.”
But the same official added that “the US’s missile defense system and the Korean-model missile defense system are clearly different.”
In September, US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said discussions were under way on how South Korea might contribute to the missile defense system, noting that one possibility involved contributing through radar.
The ministry is known to be considering implementing an interception system using the Patriot PAC-3, a key component of the missile defense system, as a follow-up for its new missile guidelines.
The two countries also plan to set up a joint working group to study an efficient command system for after the dissolution of the Combined Forces Command, with the aim of sustaining and enhancing the alliance’s combined defense posture and capabilities after the transition of wartime operational control to ROK Joint Chief of Staff in 2015.
“Nothing specific has been decided yet, but we plan to look at an optimal, efficient command structure,” said a Ministry of National Defense official.
“There has been no change in the framework where South Korea leads and the US provides support,” the official added.
　
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