US Military Forms Space Force Unit in South Korea

VIVA – The United States (US) military launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. It will help better detect ballistic missile launches from North Korea.

The activation of the US Space Force at Osan Air Base, South Korea comes after North Korea conducted tests of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, designed to strike the US mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months.

"Just 48 miles north of us is an existential threat, one that we must be prepared to prevent, defend against, and if necessary, defeat," told US Lt Col Joshua McCullion, head of the new space unit.

The US Space Force-owned unit was launched in December 2019 under the leadership of former US President Donald Trump, who at the time dubbed it the first new US military service in more than 70 years.

The Space Force is seen as an affirmation of the need to more effectively organize the defense of US interests in space, especially on satellites used for civilian and military navigation, intelligence, and communications.

An earlier Pentagon report said China and Russia had begun major efforts to develop technology that would allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in times of crisis or conflict.

As quoted from AP, Thursday, December 15, 2022, US Space forces in Korea are subordinate to a larger US Space Force unit, which was established within the Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii last month.

The Main Role of the US Space Force in South Korea

Head of the South Korean Defense Studies Forum think tank, Jung Chang Wook said the US Space Force was created to bring together diverse surveillance assets, including space-based satellites in one organization to manage, and develop effectively and systematically.

He added its unit in South Korea will work like a field unit, while another in the Indo-Pacific Command will be its headquarters.