hankyoreh

The Ministry of National Defense briefed the presidential transition team on the U.S.-led missile defense system and sources predict that the government will consider joining the global network.

On January 8, the Defense Ministry briefed the transition team on defense reform, the transfer of wartime operational control, the status of U.N. peace-keeping forces and other issues, according to comments made by a ministry official on January 20. The official added that the missile defense system was also discussed, and Lee Dong-kwan, the spokesman of the transition team, confirmed this.

Missile Defense is aimed at intercepting the ballistic missiles of enemy attackers. The United States, which led the establishment of missile defense, has invested more than US$100 billion into the program, while Japan is currently involved in research and development of the system.

In promoting the missile defense system, Washington officially emphasizes the necessity of coping with attacks by rogue states and terrorist groups using ballistic missiles in the context of the proliferation of missile-related technologies. Nations such as China and Russia, however, have been opposed to system, saying that it targets them. North Korea also objects to the system, and has stated that the Korean Peninsula would be swept by fire clouds if the South were to join either the missile defense system or the Proliferation Security Initiative, which aims to combat nuclear proliferation via the interdiction of nuclear weapons and technology. South Korea has been reluctant to join the PSI in the past for fear of inciting the North, though it was recently reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade proposed to the transition team that the matter be given serious consideration.

Both the Defense Ministry and the transition team have been cautious in responding to questions about the country’s participation in the missile defense system, most likely due to the sensitivity of the matter. Spokesman Lee said, “Regarding this matter, we should not just consider inter-Korean relations, but our relations with other concerned nations as well. We should be careful as we consider pursuing the issue because it will consume an enormous amount of resources.” Officials from both the ministry and the transition team said there had been no formal, concrete discussions on the issue.

During a press conference on January 3, Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo said that he objected to Korea’s joining the missile-defense network because of financial problems. He added, “The Army is preparing an independent low-altitude ballistic missile system,” indicating that he does not feel the need to join the U.S. and Japan-led, high-altitude ballistic missile system by changing the nation’s key policy of pursuing the establishment of a low-altitude ballistic missile system against missile attacks from North Korea.

However there are those who hold the opposite point of view. Professor Kim Woo-sang of Yonsei University, who is an advisor to President-elect Lee Myung-bak, recently said, “It is too early for Korea to participate in research and development of the missile defense system as Japan is doing. However, Korea doesn’t have to close its door to joining the missile defense system altogether.”


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