South Korea To Buy Patriot Missiles

If you have some spare PATRIOT missiles for sale I know a buyer for you:

From next year, South Korea will replace its ageing ground-to-air Nike missiles, introduced 40 years ago, with Patriot missiles, the defence ministry said. A decision on whether to buy new missiles directly from the United States or second-hand ones from Germany has yet to be taken, it added.

“We may buy US-made Patriot missiles from Germany,” a ministry official said. The South Korean military had planned to buy 48 Patriot missiles from the United States in 2000, but the plan was scrapped because of a dispute over the cost.

Currently there are PATRIOT missile units located in Suwon, Osan, Kunsan, and Kwangju providing air and missile defense to those areas. The missiles located in those areas are called PATRIOT PAC-3 missiles which are much more advanced than the PAC-2 missiles that would be sold to the South Koreans. Still it is a good sign that the ROK military is looking to increase their own idependent defense capabilities. However, will this lead to the US PATRIOT missile batteries leaving Korea? I seriously doubt that will happen any time soon.