By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, selected to take over U.S. troops in South Korea, called on Seoul Thursday to develop its missile defense system to be interoperable with the U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) network to thwart North Korea's missile threat.
Sharp's remarks are the latest U.S. push for Seoul to join the advanced BMD system, which South Korean liberal lawmakers and progressive civic groups have vehemently opposed.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sharp said South Korea should build a ``layered'' defense system including airborne lasers and advanced Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile systems.
In the short term, South Korea must develop a systematic missile defense solution to protect its critical civilian and military command capabilities, critical infrastructure and population centers, said Sharp, who will replace Gen. B. B. Bell, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command in June.
South Korea has been cautious about the idea of participating in the U.S. global missile defense initiative, citing financial constraints, technology level, the effectiveness of the BMD system against low-altitude, fast-flying missiles from the North and public sentiment.
In a reversal of long-standing policy, however, the Lee Myung-bak government putting a priority on ties with the United States, is looking to cooperate with the system.
Early this year, the Joint Chiefs of Staff provided President Lee's power transition team with suggestions on how to participate in missile defense.
A JCS source told The Korea Times that the suggestions include providing missile launch sites to the U.S. military, joining the United States in developing BMD programs, sharing the cost of deploying the BMD system in South Korea and purchasing advanced U.S. missile defense systems, such as PAC-3s, which are interoperable with the BMD network.
South Korea is on track to build a low-tier missile shield, on the basis of the PAC-2 system and SM-2 ship-to-air missiles from Aegis destroyers, aimed at intercepting incoming missiles from North Korea.
``There is a significant shortage of PAC-3 missiles currently available on the peninsula to counter the North Korean missile threat,'' said Sharp, currently serving in the Pentagon as director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The general expressed concern about North Korea's missile and artillery systems.
``North Korea still has the capacity to inflict major destruction and significant military and civilian casualties in South Korea with little or no warning'' he said, stressing South Korea should possess a ballistic missile defense capability that can join seamlessly with U.S. defensive missiles.
The North has some 250 long-range artillery systems capable of reaching Seoul within minutes. The communist state is also believed to have deployed near the inter-Korean border more than 800 short and medium-range missiles that can hit Japan.
In 2006, Pyongyang test-fired a series of missiles off the eastern coast toward Japan, including the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile with a range of 6,700 kilometers, enough to hit the United States with a light payload.
Sharp reaffirmed the U.S. plan to use defense sharing funds from South Korea in relocating the 2nd Infantry of Division, north of Seoul, to south of the Han River.
Seoul officials are negative about the move, saying it runs counter to bilateral agreements to split the cost of relocating both the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and the division.
Sharp said South Korea would have to foot $7.6 billion of the $10 billion relocation project. Seoul officials say South Korea is responsible for $5.5 billion.