US Forces in South Korea Bolster Air Defense After North Korea’s ICBM Tests

U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon (R) and F-35A Lightning II fighter jets taxiing at Kunsan Air Base in Kunsan, South Korea, on Dec. 3, 2017. (Senior Airman Colby L. Hardin/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images)

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday that it has increased air defense exercises in South Korea, after speculations that North Korea had used an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in its recent tests.

USFK said that its 35th air defense artillery brigade has recently increased the intensity of its certification exercise as a demonstration of the forces’ capabilities and commitment to defend South Korea against any threat or adversary.

“[The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s] significant increase in its missile testing activity undermines peace, security, and destabilizes the Northeast Asia region,” it said in a statement, referring to North Korea’s official name.

It noted that the unit validated their wartime mission requirements “by moving to a remote location, occupying its wartime defensive position, emplacing the patriot missile system, and executing air and missile defense operations under a simulated combat scenario.”

“While this type of training is routinely conducted by U.S. Patriot batteries across [South Korea], its increased intensity of its certification underscores the seriousness USFK takes against the DPRK’s recent missile launch behavior,” USFK stated.

The U.S. Treasury Department on March 11 claimed that North Korea had conducted 11 ballistic missile launches since the start of 2022, the most recent being on March 4, which Pyongyang’s state-run media said was an attempt to test cameras installed on a spy satellite.

Washington concluded that North Korea’s recent tests on Feb. 26 and March 4 involved a “new intercontinental ballistic missile system” that the Kim regime first unveiled during a military parade in 2020.

“The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.

South Korea has also urged North Korea to immediately stop any activity that raises tensions and regional security tensions. It also warned that Pyongyang appears to be restoring parts of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, which the Kim regime razed in May 2018 as a sign of its commitment to end nuclear testing, Yonhap News Agency reported.

On Dec. 2, 2021, the military chiefs of the United States and South Korea announced their agreement to update strategic planning guidance to deter North Korea’s military threats.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Suh Wook affirmed their commitment “to strengthening the alliance’s deterrence posture by leveraging all available alliance capabilities, including cyber and space capabilities,” and to update operation plans.

The two defense officials said that the Korean peninsula is one of the places on the globe where conflict could start with little notice, and the forces in South Korea—including 28,000 Americans—must be ready to “fight tonight.”