By Julian E. Barnes
WASHINGTON--The U.S. is weighing a plan to deploy an advanced
missile-defense system in South Korea, as the Pentagon begins a new
push this week to expand cooperation in Asia to counter the threat
of North Korean missiles, defense officials said.
The U.S. has conducted a site survey in South Korea for possible
locations for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, or
Thaad, but no final decisions have been made to deploy the system,
the officials said.
The system is designed to intercept short, medium and
intermediate missiles. Last year, in the face of provocations from
North Korea, the U.S. deployed one such system to Guam to protect
U.S. bases there.
Deploying a Thaad system to South Korea could represent an
important incentive to encourage Seoul to cooperate more fully with
the U.S. and Japan in a planned regional missile defense
system.
South Korean officials have long indicated they don't want to
participate in a U.S.-Japanese missile defense system, preferring
instead to develop their own defenses. South Korean official
reiterated that position on Tuesday.
The U.S. could deploy its own Thaad system to South Korea
temporarily, and then, in time, replace it with a system purchased
by Seoul, a defense official said. Or it could allow South Korea to
purchase its own, and jump ahead in the queue for the system, the
official said.
The U.S. plans to purchase seven Thaad systems, but only three
so far are operational and competition among U.S. policy makers
over where to deploy them is intense. Some policy makers want to
send one of the systems to South Korea, others want one in the
Middle East to defend against the threat of an Iranian attack, and
yet others want to keep the two in reserve in case a major crisis
breaks out.
The prime contractor for the Thaad is Lockheed Martin Corp.
Raytheon Co. makes the powerful "x-band" radar that is part of the
system. Each Thaad missile battery costs about $950 million.
Missile defense cooperation is high on the agenda of the
trilateral defense meeting between the U.S., Japan and South Korea
scheduled for the sidelines of a the Shangri-La Dialogue, a
security conference in Singapore, on May 31, officials said. Top
officials from Lockheed Martin are also scheduled to attend the
event.
In a speech on missile defense to be delivered on Wednesday at
the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, Adm. James
Winnefeld, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will
emphasize that, despite tensions between Japan and Korea, improving
cooperation is critical to improving defenses against North
Korea.
"Going forward, we will continue to emphasize the importance of
developing regional ballistic missile defense systems," Adm.
Winnefeld will say, according to advance excerpts of his remarks.
"This is a very politically sensitive topic for several of our
regional allies, but progress in this area would only increase our
confidence in the face of persistent North Korean
provocations."
While both South Korea and Japan are U.S. allies, the two
countries remain wary of each other, with historical tensions
lingering. A more muscular foreign policy and stronger role for
Japan's military outlined in recent months by Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe has caused unease among some officials in
Seoul.
But a stronger three-way alliance is a vital goal of U.S.
officials, who see it as a counterweight to China's growing
military might as well as important in responding to aggression
from North Korea.
"It would be really useful if those nations could set aside
their long standing differences," said a senior defense official.
"There is enormous utility to having a regionally-knitted together
approach to missile defense."
Riki Ellison, the founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy
Alliance said the x-band radar attached to the Thaad system would
be able to track missiles over a large area, offering protection
not just for South Korea but also for Japan and the U.S.
"It can give an early warning on everything in the theater," he
said.
U.S. officials, including Adm. Winnefeld, also have noted that
declining U.S. defense spending means that cooperation between
allies on regional missile defense has grown more important.
Defense officials are examining other investments to bolster
missile defenses in Asia, including a new radar in Alaska that
would help distinguish between warheads and decoys. The U.S. also
is working on technology that would deploy launch detection sensors
on unmanned planes, likely Predator drones, which could provide an
early warning on North Korean launches, officials said.
In his remarks Wednesday, Adm. Winnefeld calls investments in
better radar and sensors critical. Improving sensors and
interceptors, he is to say in the speech, will allow the U.S. to
use fewer of its own missiles to knock down an attack from Iran or
North Korea.
"If, because of system improvements, we have to shoot half the
number of interceptors per incoming warhead than we used to, then
we can handle twice the number of inbound warheads," Adm. Winnefeld
is to say.
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