South Korea eyes warships with anti-missile capability

The Asahi Shimbun ^ | August 18, 2016 | YOSHIHIRO MAKINO

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SEOUL--South Korea disclosed plans to purchase three Aegis destroyers with Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) interceptor missile capability to counter aggressive moves by rival North Korea.

The costly outlay would bring South Korea closer to effectively sharing a missile defense system that is used by Japan and the United States.

Its Navy already possesses three Aegis destroyers and three more have been ordered, but none is equipped with SM-3 missiles. The new plan would involve acquiring three other Aegis destroyers with SM-3 capability in the mid-2020s.

The government will decide later whether to install SM-3 interceptor missiles on the new Aegis destroyers.

The decision to introduce Aegis destroyers was made when Kim Dae-jung was president. However, including interceptor missile capability was put off because of concerns China would voice objections over a perceived threat to its own national security.

The decision by South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration, revealed Aug. 17, came after a series of ballistic missile launches by North Korea.

Aegis destroyers from Japan and the United States pitched in to help South Korea deal with the situation as its own Aegis destroyers can only track missiles in flight.

South Korean defense officials were alarmed by North Korea's recent submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

South Korean military officials said Pyongyang is likely only three years away from deploying SLBMs, giving it the capability to launch ballistic missiles from the Sea of Japan and East China Sea.

South Korean government officials said SM-3 interceptor missiles would be needed to shoot down SLBMs. The SM-3 missile is designed to intercept ballistic missiles at altitudes of 300 kilometers outside the Earth's atmosphere.

In order to achieve that, South Korea must be part of an extensive cooperative system involving the United States and Japan. This would involve the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the three nations in the form of radar systems aboard the Aegis destroyers, intelligence satellites and land-based radar systems to track and destroy the ballistic missiles.

While South Korea has said it will build its own ballistic missile defense system, it also needs the cooperation of the United States and Japan for missile defense.

In late June, South Korea for the first time took part in joint missile defense exercises involving Aegis destroyers with the United States and Japan.

Seoul also plans to begin operating an intelligence-sharing system with the United States to track North Korean ballistic missiles before the end of the year.

There are also plans to deploy the U.S. military's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea next year.

A major hurdle for South Korea in purchasing Aegis destroyers with SM-3 capability will be cost.

Seoul already has plans to construct a ballistic missile defense system by the mid-2020s at a total cost of 17 trillion won (1.6 trillion yen, or $16 billion). It remains to be seen if South Korea will also be able to acquire the Aegis destroyers with SM-3 capabilities.

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A South Korean Navy Aegis destroyer and helicopters (Asahi Shimbun file photo)