S. Korea and US militaries planning response to NK missile threat

Posted on : 2014-10-08 15:13 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Defense Minister Han Min-koo has recently expressed approval of S. Korea joining US-led missile defense system

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

South Korean and American military officials are currently drawing up contingency plans for responding jointly to the threat of a North Korean ballistic missile by mobilizing the US missile defense system, according to documents released on Oct. 7. Since this kind of cooperation would require the South Korean military to be even more closely integrated into the American missile defense system, the debate about whether South Korea should join the missile defense system is expected to become more intense.

During a report to the parliamentary audit that took place at the National Assembly on Oct. 7, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said that it is working to give shape to the implementation system for joint customized deterrence by the US and South Korea against the threat posed by North Korean nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. It also said that it is also working to develop the allies’ comprehensive missile response ability.

The ministry added that it would be defining the concepts and principles for comprehensive missile response operations carried out by the two countries.

“I understand that they mean to define these concepts and principles during the US-ROK Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), which is taking place at the end of this month. After that, they intend to develop this into an operational plan by next year,” a government official in regard to this.

The comprehensive joint response that the American military officials are promoting is the idea of deterring a North Korean missile attack by mobilizing all available strategic assets, including the Korean Air and Missile Defense System (KAMD), which South Korea is hoping to complete by the early 2020s, and the American missile defense system operating on the Korean peninsula, sources said.

In 2012, the South Korean and American militaries set up the Counter Missile Capability Committee (CMCC) to look for joint ways to counter the threat of North Korea’s missiles. In Oct. 2013, Curtis Scaparotti, the commander of ROK-US Combined Forces Command, announced that the CMCC had set up the 4D strategy, referring to defend, detect, destruct, and destroy.

The US and South Korea also agreed to a customized strategy of deterrence to respond to the threat of North Korea‘s nuclear weapons and missiles at the 45th Security Consultative Meeting in 2013. “We are drawing up the concepts and principles for ROK-US comprehensive missile response to work out the customized deterrence strategy that was agreed to last year,” military officials said.

However, this implies that the operation of South Korea and American missile defense systems would be linked - referred to as interoperability - throughout a series of stages ranging from detection of a North Korean missile to interception of that missile. This suggests that South Korea is becoming more deeply involved in the US missile defense system.

“This does not mean that South Korea is joining the American missile defense program. Rather, it means that, in the event of an incident, the US will share intelligence collected by its missile defense assets about North Korean nuclear and missile bases with us and support us as we strike those bases,” a military official said in regard to this.

During a parliamentary audit at the National Defense Committee at the National Assembly, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo was asked a question related to this.

“I’m unable to provide a detailed answer to this question, but South Korea and the US are preparing different stages of responses as part of the customized deterrence of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile threat. However, this has less to do with drawing up a concrete operational plan than with creating several protocols and methods for helping these concepts take shape,” Han said.

When asked about the question of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) being deployed with US Forces Korea, Han indicated that he would not be opposed to the idea. “Our options for countering the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile threat are limited. Deploying THAAD would be helpful for South Korean national security and defense,” Han said.

“I regard THAAD from a security perspective. The weapon system has an extremely wide scope for defense. If it were deployed in South Korea, I think it would not only be an asset for US Forces Korea but also contribute greatly to the defense of South Korea,” Han said.

When asked if the South Korean government would have to foot the bill for maintaining THAAD if it were deployed with US Forces Korea, Han said that would not be the case.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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