Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

At ceremony to mark the reinforcement of the Army Missile Strategic Command and the Air and Missile Defense Command,

Minister Suh Wook states that he expects “stronger deterrence against North Korea,” and

stresses that the military will continue to maximize its missile response capabilities, including developing long-distance, ultra-precision, and high-power ballistic missiles, and upgrading the Patriot missiles

Minister of National Defense Suh Wook has clarified that our military will work to build overwhelming response capabilities given the changing missile threats from North Korea.

On April 1, Suh presided over the ceremony to mark the reinforcement of the Army Missile Strategic Command (Missile Strategic Command) and the Air and Missile Defense Command (Missile Defense Command). “Currently, our military possesses a large number of various types of missiles that are greatly improved in terms of range, accuracy and power, and has the capability to accurately and swiftly strike any target in North Korea,” Suh said, stressing that “the military has the ability to conduct precision strikes on the origin of any launch, and command and support facilities, whenever there is an apparent warning that the North is pursuing additional missile launches.”

“Our military will continue to develop long-distance, ultra-precision, and high-power ballistic missiles to overwhelm any enemies,” Suh added, stressing that “the military will also strengthen its missile response capabilities, including upgrading the performance of the Patriot missiles, introducing an additional early warning radar for ballistic missiles, and the force integration of Cheongung-Ⅱ.”

Assessing this reinforcement as a part of the efforts and the outcome of the Defense Reform 2.0 initiative, Suh explained that “it has great significance in terms of building a genuine and active response readiness against the increasing omnidirectional security threats, including the North’s nuclear and missile threats.” “The two commands will serve as two major axes of deterrence against North Korea, taking the lead in our military’s missile attack and defense capabilities. With this reinforcement as momentum, I expect that the two commands will build a stronger deterrence against North Korea,” he added.

Suh also asked the soldiers and civilian employees of the commands to “maintain a firm readiness posture in order to respond immediately to any missile threats from enemies through close cooperation between the two commands,” stressing that “the ministry will provide active support to the two commands to ensure that they have the capabilities needed to respond overwhelmingly to the North’s shifting missile threats.”

The Friday ceremony was held in accordance with the proclamation of a revision plan for the unit order after the approval of President Moon Jae-in. The ministry explained that it has reinforced the commands after comprehensively considering the increased need to respond to the North’s shifting missile threats, our military’s advanced capabilities after the expansion of key military strength, and the basic plan for Defense Reform 2.0.

By Chae-Mu, Im <lims86@dema.mil.kr >

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