Category: US-ROK Alliance

I hope someone has since told Richard Armitage that the THAAD missile defense system is for the defense of South Korea and not the US mainland because the system is not designed to shoot down ICBMs:

The main purpose of U.S. efforts to deploy a THAAD missile defense unit to South Korea is to protect the U.S. mainland from North Korean missile threats, a former top American diplomat said Wednesday.

Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage made the remark during a security seminar on Korea, claiming that hosting a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery is a responsibility South Korea has as an ally of the United States.

“I think the United States has approached this incorrectly … I think we have not been as clear … about what THAAD does as we should have been,” Armitage said during the seminar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Korea Foundation.

“I see the deployment of THAAD as an alliance responsibility for the Republic of Korea because THAAD, although it covers some of the Republic of Korea, … it is more for the defense of the United States, the continental United States against North Korean missiles,” he said.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but the system the US has to shoot down North Korean ICBMs is the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System (GMD) which has interceptors in Alaska and California.

It figures the SOFA would come up in response to the anthrax scare at Osan AB:

South Korea is considering revising its military agreement with the U.S. to prevent another accidental shipment of live anthrax to the South, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday.

Safety jitters over biological weapons flared up after the U.S. military said last month a U.S. Defense Department laboratory had mistakenly sent a live anthrax sample to the U.S. Forces Korea’s Osan Air Base, south of Seoul.

Public concerns did not subside despite the USFK announcement that the sample was destroyed before inflicting any damage.

“(The government and the ruling party) decided to review necessary enhancement and supplement measures after determining whether there is a problem in the management and process of the Status of Forces Agreement,” Saenuri Party Rep. Won Yoo-chul said after a policy coordination meeting with Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo. Seoul will discuss any revisions at a joint SOFA committee meeting with the U.S., planned for July, the lawmaker said.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the THAAD front:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for the first time on Monday pushed openly for the deployment of the U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea. 
The need “to be prepared for every possible outcome… is why we need to deploy ships, forces… and we are talking about THAAD,” Kerry told U.S. soldiers at their garrison in Yongsan, Seoul. 
He reiterated the importance of keeping U.S. forces on the peninsula, saying North Korean threats are the reason for the deployment of vessels and troops here.
Seoul has maintained a flimsy fiction that the controversial deployment of THAAD batteries has not been discussed because they form the core of the U.S.’ missile strategy aimed at containing China. [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link. 

Our latest Korea Chair Snapshot covers the new U.S.-ROK 123 agreement, announced on April 22. http://t.co/iAWdtbownm

— CSIS Korea Chair (@CSISKoreaChair) April 22, 2015

Deployment of US missile defense considered for South Korea http://t.co/gGUMQGYQWp #KoreaNews

— Korea News Summary (@ROKreport) April 16, 2015

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is in Seoul discussing the US defense commitment to the peninsula:

Defence Secretary Ashton Carter promised Friday that the US would deploy state of the art weaponry in Asia, including the latest stealth bombers and cyber warfare units, to counter threats posed by the likes of North Korea.

“Our newest and best things are being deployed to this part of the world,” Carter said in Seoul — the second leg of a visit to the two key US military allies in the region, Japan and South Korea. (…………)

Stressing that military deterrence and readiness were “at a premium” on the divided peninsula, Carter said the US was investing in “advanced capabilities …. tailored to this dynamic security environment.”

Asked to expand, he cited new stealth bombers, F-35 stealth fighters and highly developed cyber warfare systems that could be rotationally deployed in the Asian theatre.  [AFP]

You can read the rest at the link, but what wasn’t supposedly discussed was the deployment of a THAAD missile defense system to South Korea which continues to be a touchy subject due to Beijing’s objections to the deployment.

U.S.-Japan defense pact likely to address Seoul's demand over collective self-defense http://t.co/nivsWw1ZAd

— Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) April 9, 2015

The July 2009 file photo shows an air-to-surface Hellfire missile launched from a U.S. Apache helicopter over the waters off South Korea’s southwestern city of Gunsan. The United States said on April 2, 2015, it has approved a possible sale of 400 AGM-114R1 Hellfire II Semi-Active Laser Missiles to South Korea. (Yonhap)

General Dempsey was in town and supposedly the word THAAD was never uttered one time:

The military chiefs of South Korea and the United States met Friday in Seoul to talk about a range of defense issues, though Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the hot potato issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, was not discussed.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the American JCS, paid a visit to the National Cemetery Friday and then to the Korean JCS in Yongsan, central Seoul, where he had a discussion with his Korean counterpart Adm. Choi Yoon-hee and other JCS members. Dempsey was on the second day of a three-day visit to South Korea

During the talks, the two top military officials discussed the transfer of wartime operation control, measures to strengthen the combined defense posture of the two countries and also the future of the alliance.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see if anything significant comes out these talks next week:

The top U.S. military officer will visit South Korea next week for talks with his counterpart on boosting the bilateral alliance, Seoul officials said Friday, amid keen attention on whether the two will discuss the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system here.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), is scheduled to arrive Thursday for a three-day stay, during which he plans to hold talks with South Korea’s JCS chairman, Adm. Choi Yun-hee, and meet with Defense Minister Han Min-koo, according to Seoul’s JCS.

Dempsey’s trip here is considered a return visit before he leaves office at the end of September, the JCS said, noting Choi traveled to the U.S. in July last year, it added.

“The JCS chairmen of South Korea and the U.S. will boost their relationship, reaffirm their strong will for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and discuss ways on how to develop the alliance in the future,” the JCS said in a statement.

“The chairmen are expected to deal with a wide range of pending issues, including how to deal with North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats and their preparedness for the transfer of the wartime operational control of South Korean troops,” a JCS officer said.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.