Korea, US to boost missile shield

Seoul says cooperation is limited to deterring NK

By Lee Tae-hoon

South Korea and the United States pledged Thursday to boost joint efforts to strengthen a missile shield against North Korean provocation. The government, however, clarified that it didn’t mean wholehearted participation in the U.S.-led missile defense initiative (MDI).

“In response to North Korea’s growing missile capabilities, we decided to explore ways to strengthen comprehensive and combined defenses against the missile threat,” according to a joint statement issued after their two-plus-two meeting in Washington, Thursday.

The statement also said that the two sides stressed the need to take a “proactive and whole-of-government approach” in enhancing cooperation related to cyberspace and “cyberspace, space and technology security measures.”

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin participated in the meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Their pledge reaffirmed a September 2010 agreement for the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses to launch joint research on a Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for the purpose of neutralizing North Korean missiles right after they are fired.

“South Korea’s missile defense system is different from the one of the United States as KAMD is only intended to intercept missiles in the low endo-atmosphere,” Defense Minister Kim told reporters after the ministerial talks at the U.S. State Department.

The defense chief has maintained that Korea will neither purchase, nor develop long-range ballistic missile interceptors in the near future, such as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) capable of destroying targets in the high endo-atmosphere.

Military insiders here say Seoul does not want to have long-range surface-to-air interceptors due largely to the astronomical acquisition cost and ineffectiveness of such a defense system.

They admit that the odds of intercepting multiple missiles flying toward the South are slim and Seoul cannot afford to have cutting-edge interceptors capable of destroying long-range missiles flying toward targets away from the Korean Peninsula.

“The renewed commitment of the two allies for missile defense can be seen as a symbolic gesture that Washington will actively provide technical assistance to Seoul in the development of the latter’s indigenous missile interceptors,” a senior military official said.

Meanwhile, a military source said that Seoul will launch its Air and Missile Defense (AMD) cell, a missile defense command-and-control center aimed at monitoring and shooting down low-flying, short- and intermediate-range cruise and ballistic missiles at low altitude as scheduled by the end of this year.

Thus far, Seoul successfully developed an indigenous mid-range surface-to-air missile, the Chun Koong, with a maximum range of 40 kilometers and is planning to inject 135.4 billion won ($116.3 million) to upgrade it to make a longer range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM) capable of reaching 60 kilometers.

“It will be difficult for Seoul to successfully complete the L-SAM program without receiving the transfer of some core-technologies from the United States or other advanced nations.”

Another senior official noted that Washington will continue to ask Seoul to be involved in its missile defense system by acquiring advanced missile detecting and tracking systems, such as the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System that can transmit their target detection information to the U.S. forces.

“Washington wants Seoul to indirectly participate in its missile defense of the U.S. soil by providing information, rather than physical deterrence, on fears of triggering an unnecessary arms race in the Asian region and upsetting China,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ministers of the two countries acknowledged that they will seek a proactive and comprehensive approach with the entire government to address the increasing threats in cyberspace, which may put the infrastructure of both nations at great risk.

“To this end, they decided to establish a cyber issues dialogue involving relevant ministries and agencies, which will help coordinate our government, military, and commercial security policies,” they said in the joint statement.