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Korea's missile defense capabilities have been a hot topic of late, with speculation
rising Seoul might join hands with Washington on a U.S.-led missile defense system.
Joining us live for a more in-depth look at some of the issues at play is Arirang News'
Kim Hyun-bin from our News Center. Hyun-bin, what is the controversy at hand
and where does the South Korean government stand on this issue?
Hi, guys The U.S. has long argued that its allies in this region must share defense burden
while South Korea has resisted joining the U.S. missile defense system, which could undermine
missile capabilities of China, Korea's largest trading partner.
Earlier this week, Korea's Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin denied speculations Seoul might
join the U.S. missile program. He said it was too expensive and its huge
interception range is unnecessary on the Korean peninsula.
Seoul's Defense Ministry says Korea needs to focus on its own low altitude system that
is already under development. It's called Korea Air and Missile Defense
or KAMD. Let's take a closer look.
"KAMD is a multi-level missile defense system Korea is in the process of developing. The
system fits Korea's terrain and the threats facing the nation. KAMD currently focuses
on low-altitude missile threats, since most of North Korea's missiles targeting South
Korea are not ballistic missiles and have a range of 1-thousand kilometers of less."
But the KAMD system has its weak points. The interceptor missile currently being used
is the Patriot-2, also known as PAC-2, but this missile was originally built to take
down aircraft, not missiles. The military is currently focusing on upgrading
its PAC-2s to PAC-3s, which have better accuracy and efficiency.
I spoke to a weapons expert about the issue. Let's hear what he had to say.
"The PAC-2 explodes near the ballistic missile or target and the debris takes it down. The
PAC-3 directly collides with the enemy missile, so the PAC-3 is more reliable and accurate
than the PAC-2."
Instead of joining the U.S. system, Defense Minister Kim said the South Korean military
will enhance its KAMD program, so South Korea will be able to better counter missile threats
with its own technology. On top of that, the South Korean government
is scheduled to finish developing mid- and long-range surface-to-air missiles by 2022.
Certainly sounds like a complex issue and a decision the Defense Ministry did not take
lightly. Could you tell us a bit more about the major differences between Seoul's missile
defense system and Washington's?
The U.S. missile defense system is multi-layered and is considered the best in the world.
To show you what Washington's capabilities are, let's take a look at this graph.
As you can see, the U.S. system works on a three-layer missile defense network.
The first line of defense comes from the Aegis rocket, which is designed to knock out an
incoming ballistic missile while it's in space. If that fails, a theater high-altitude area
defense interceptor, also known as the THAAD, intercepts the missile just as it re-enters
the earth's atmosphere. The final layer of defense is the lower-altitude
patriot missile. Experts say the chance of a ballistic missile
slipping through all three layers is very slim.
Korea does not have a high-altitude missile defense system, but experts say that if the
Korean Air and Missile Defense system, which is a low-altitude missile defense system,
is fully implemented in 2022, Korea will be able to successfully intercept missile attacks
from Pyongyang.
Hyun-bin, aside from the cost involved in introducing the U.S. system, what other factors
stand in the way for the South Korean military to adopt it?
From a security standpoint, experts say it would have definitely worried South Korea's
neighbors in the region, namely China and Russia.
Let's hear what this expert had to say.
"If the U.S. system were implemented it would restrain the nuclear and missile capabilities
of the countries in the region. The U.S. would be able to intercept missiles using its multi-level
system. This would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the ballistic missiles, which in turn would
break the strategic balance between those countries."
Other experts point out, however, that at some point, whether it's with our own technology
or not, Korea needs to obtain high-tech missile defense program, as Pyongyang is trying to
enhance its ballistic missile capabilities.
That was our Kim Hyun-bin reporting on South Korea's missile defense system and issues
surrounding it. Thanks Hyun-bin for that report.