S.Korea, U.S. Work Out Missile Defense Strategy

South Korea and the U.S. are working out a joint operational plan to respond to the nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

They will flesh out the strategy at the annual bilateral Security Consultative Meeting in Washington later this month. Pundits wonder whether that means Seoul is being drawn into the U.S. missile defense program by the back door.

"Seoul and Washington are improving their capabilities to respond to a mounting threat from the North's ballistic missiles," a government source here said Tuesday. "The key point to formulate is the overall operational strategy."

The U.S.' air and missile defense system includes PAC-3 missiles capable of intercepting incoming missiles at an altitude of 15-30 km; Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles capable of intercepting missiles at an altitude of 150 km; the X-band radar with a range of 1,800 km; long-range, high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles dubbed Global Hawk; the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System; and reconnaissance satellites.

But a military source said the option of mobilizing them in South Korea's defense "doesn't mean that South Korea is coming under the U.S. missile defense system, only that it will be provided by the U.S. with information on the North Korean nuclear and missile bases and with means to strike them."

It is a subtle difference that may not be much help in allaying Chinese suspicions about the anti-missile program, which it believes is chiefly aimed at keeping Beijing's growing military might in check.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Han Min-koo told lawmakers Tuesday, "The deployment of THAAD missiles here will be helpful to security given that South Korea has limited means to cope with the North's nuclear and missile threats."

Read this article in Korean