Tag: missile defense

Congratulations to Major Lee for the command assignment and I hope she does well:

A female battery commander has been appointed for the first time in Korean air defense history. Maj. Lee Yeong-mi, selected on Jan. 6, will lead the Patriot artillery unit.

Although the Air Defense Artillery School has had a female battery commander in the past, her appointment is unprecedented because as a commander, Major Lee will be in charge of military operations.

Lee grew up in a military family and long dreamed of becoming an officer. As a child, she often listened to the war stories of her grandfather, who fought for the South during the 1950-53 Korean War.

“I wanted to devote myself to my country, following in the footsteps of my grandfather, and protect it,” Lee said.

She ultimately chose to join the Air Force under her family’s influence. Her father, Lee Seong-kyo, was an Air Force aviation maintenance sergeant when he was discharged from the Army, and her younger brother, Lee Jong-jin, is an Air Force master sergeant.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but it wasn’t that long ago that females in the ROK military were the ones fetching the coffee, so this is another example of how quickly things in Korea can change.

Via One Free Korea comes this Yonhap article that explains how missile defense is one area the US can use to pressure China to reign in North Korean provocations:

The deployment of ballistic missile defense systems around North Korea by the United States and its allies could be an effective way to change China’s strategic thinking about Pyongyang, a U.S. congressional report said.

The Congressional Research Service made the point in a recent report, “North Korea: U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation,” saying Beijing would find it not in its national interest if provocative actions by the North lead to increased military deployments in the region.

When North Korea fired a long-range rocket in April 2012, a key focus of Chinese media coverage of the case was Patriot missile deployments that were made by the U.S. and its allies in response to the North’s launch, the report noted.

A subtext of those reports was that the North’s actions are feeding military developments that are not in China’s interests, it said.

“As part of the efforts by the United States and its allies to change China’s strategic thinking about North Korea, the BMD (ballistic missile defense) deployments may have an impact,” the report said. “Many observers, particularly in the United States and Japan, argue that continued North Korean ballistic missile development increases the need to bolster regional BMD capabilities and cooperation.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link as well as over at One Free Korea who also believes that South Korea and Japan should also move towards developing their own nuclear arsenals to further pressure China.

Especially of interest with this missile defense test is that Japanese intelligence may be included as part of the test:

South Korea plans to conduct its first missile defense drill in the first half of next year to test the effectiveness of locally developed defense programs in the face of North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats, a government source said Monday.

South Korea has been developing its own Kill-Chain and Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) systems to better detect and respond to military provocations from the North.

“Military authorities are planning our first independent Korean Peninsula missile defense drill during the first half of next year,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“I understand that the drill is aimed at testing the effectiveness of the KAMD and Kill-Chain systems that have been developed by our military and identifying any flaws.”

The drill is expected to run on the missile defense simulation model developed jointly with the United States, the source added.

The exercise is also likely to use military intelligence provided by Japan under a trilateral pact signed earlier in the day.
(Yonhap)

You can read more at the link.

The Chinese continue to push this issues knowing full well that if they do not want THAAD in Korea then get the North Korea to quit making threats against the ROK:

China’s top diplomat to Seoul said Wednesday he is opposed to the possible U.S. deployment of an advanced missile-defense (MD) system in South Korea as it would hurt Sino-Korean ties, a lawmaker said.

The United States has said it is considering deploying a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, an integral part of its MD system, to South Korea, citing evolving threats from North Korea. It is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at a higher altitude in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill method.

The possibility has been a focus of media attention as it is seen as part of a broader U.S. attempt to get the Asian ally to join its air defense system and could spark tensions with China and Russia, who see it as a threat to their security interests.

“The THAAD would have a range of around 2,000 kilometers, which goes beyond the goal of countering missiles from North Korea,” Chinese ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong was quoted as saying by Rep. Won Hye-young of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but it is interesting that the Chinese do not care that the ROK has the Super Green Pine as well as the SPY-1 radars on their Aegis ships that can also have the range to look into China.

I guess one way you can look at this is that there was no talks about not deploy it either:

South Korea and the United States exchanged information on key features of the THAAD missile defense system, but there were no discussions on deploying the system to South Korea, Seoul’s ambassador to Washington said Saturday.

“I am aware that there were consultations on the weapons system itself,” Amb. Ahn Ho-young said in response to questions from lawmakers during a parliamentary audit of the embassy. “But there were no discussions at all about deploying a THAAD battery to the Korean Peninsula.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the controversy with THAAD has to do with the left wing view that the deployment with antagonize China because the radar can look into China.  Interestingly enough these same leftists don’t seem to mind that the ROK military already has the Super Green Pine as well as the SPY-1 radars on their Aegis ships that can also have the range to look into China.  This is clearly just another example of the usual suspects on the Korean left trying to demagogue what should not be a controversial issue; protecting South Korea from a ballistic missile attack and instead twisting it into an anti-US issue.

The Chinese have been complaining about the deployment of THAAD to Korea and it looks like the Korean government is going to try and alleviate their concerns:

The government is moving to ease China’s concerns about the possible deployment of U.S. missile interceptors on Korean soil.

National Security Office (NSC) chief Kim Kwan-jin is expected to undertake this hard mission on a visit to Beijing to meet with State Councilor Yang Jiechi in October.

Government officials have recently dropped hints that they would not object to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) plan to bring in a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The advanced missile-defense system that has a range of up to lometers is regarded as an indispensable element of the U.S. missile defense system.

“The NSC chief will try and acquire China’s understanding on THAAD,” a government official said. The resumption of six-party talks aimed at stopping North Korea’s nuclear programs would also be on the agenda, he said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.