MELBOURNE, Australia \u2014 South Korea intends to further boost its military\u2019s command and control as well as surveillance capabilities as the country\u2019s president reiterated his desire to see it entrusted with wartime control of its forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the nation\u2019s 69th Armed Forces Day on Sept. 28 at the Republic of Korea Navy\u2019s Second Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, President Moon Jae-in said that by increasing defense capabilities and reducing its reliance on the American military, South Korea would project more power in the region and better deter an attack by North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He did reiterate, however, that he aims to strengthen South Korea\u2019s ties with the U.S., noting that \u201cwe can fundamentally prevent North Korea\u2019s nuclear provocations when the expanded deterrence of the [South] Korea-U.S. alliance is effectively manifested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea\u2019s Ministry of National Defense displayed several of the country\u2019s most advanced military capabilities at the event, including the public debut of the Hyunmoo-2C ballistic missile, which has a range of almost 500 miles that enables it to potentially strike deep inside North Korea. In response to North Korea\u2019s missile test on Sept. 14, South Korea conducted a quick launch of its own, test-firing a pair of Hyunmoo-2 missiles within six minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hyunmoo family of ballistic missiles is part of South Korea\u2019s three-pronged strategy against the North Korean missile threat: the Kill Chain preemptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense system and the Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, wartime operational control, or OPCON, of South Korea\u2019s military rests in the hands of U.S. Forces Korea. Moon\u2019s two predecessors pushed back the previous target dates of 2012 and 2015 to transfer control of forces, citing a need to further develop the country\u2019s own defense capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea is planning significant improvements to its military\u2019s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, capabilities, with its recent defense budget earmarking $10.6 billion for procurement along with research and development. It has ordered four of Northrop Grumman\u2019s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, with deliveries due to start in 2018, and will launch the first of five planned military satellites in 2019 as part of a program to improve its own ISR capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Euan Graham, the director of the International Security Program at Australia\u2019s Lowy Institute, told Defense News that taking over OPCON of its forces \u201crequires significant across the board investment in communications enablers, not just satellites or other ISR systems on South Korea\u2019s part.\u201d He added, however, that the most recent budget is a sign that the government understands that need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graham also said that Moon\u2019s latest remarks indicate that he seems more serious about taking over OPCON of South Korea\u2019s military than his predecessors, and he suggested that this is part of an \u201coverdue\u201d trend of major U.S. allies adopting a more autonomous defence posture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea intends to further boost its military\u2019s command and control as well as surveillance capabilities as the country\u2019s president reiterated his desire to see it entrusted with wartime control of its forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":82425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":11,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[45,160,11,36],"tags":[8595],"coauthors":[3419],"class_list":["post-39260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-newsletters","tag-south-korea"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VOX6DKIHARGGXGG2TRGBLJATQQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/2017\/09\/29\/south-koreas-president-stresses-need-to-grow-national-defense-capabilities\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n