South Korea's military launches new branch to bolster space capabilities

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle II, also known as Nuri, emits fire and exhaust gases before lifting off from a launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, in this Oct. 21 file photo. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff has created a new branch of the military dedicated to developing the country's space security capabilities, its officials said Monday. Joint Press Corps

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday it has created a new branch of the military dedicated to developing the country's space security capabilities.

The launch of the Military Space Branch, Saturday, came as South Korea has been striving to craft space operation concepts and strategies based on inter-service cooperation amid an intensifying rivalry among major space powers in the emerging security domain.

"Space powers, including the United States, China, Russia and Japan, have been expanding budgets substantially to get the upper hand in the space domain and making all-out efforts to develop related technologies," the JCS said in a press release.

The JCS also stressed that a country's ability to use space is "directly linked" to its overall national capabilities.

The military has recently been stepping up efforts to devise inter-service space operations to enhance efficiency as all branches of the armed services had been separately working on their own concepts.

The country's space development efforts gained traction after Seoul and Washington agreed to lift "missile guidelines" restrictions in May. The guidelines had barred Seoul from developing or possessing ballistic missiles with a range greater than 800 kilometers. (Yonhap)