Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Three countries plan to conduct combined exercise linked to RIMPAC;

Defense ministers of the three countries agree at Shangri-La Dialogue to conduct exercise;

Three sides also agree to push the second-half missile alert exercise forward

The Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States (US) and Japan plan to carry out a combined missile search and tracking exercise during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises in waters off Hawaii.

In a regular briefing on June 14, deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense’s Moon Hong-sik said that “the three sides plan to stage a combined missile search and tracking exercise during RIMPAC exercises, as there is a need to standardize the existing exercises of the three countries to respond to North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.”

During the missile search and tracking exercise (Pacific Dragon), each country’s Aegis destroyer searches, identifies and tracks a virtual target simulating a ballistic missile launched from land without a prior alert. At the ROK-US-Japan defense ministerial talks held on June 11 on the sidelines of the 19th Asia Security Summit (Shangri-La Dialogue), the three ministers agreed to stage combined missile alert and ballistic missile search and tracking exercises.

The Pacific Dragon ballistic missile search and tracking exercise was open to the public for the first time in 2016. The exercise was conducted during RIMPAC exercises which are held biennially, but was not previously disclosed to the public.

“The three countries shared the assessment that there is a need for them to disclose the exercises they have conducted so far in order to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” Moon explained.

The three sides also plan to conduct the ROK-US-Japan missile alert exercise in the second half of the year. In principle, the missile alert exercise is conducted quarterly through either a computer simulation or a dummy missile fired without interception, but it has been conducted irregularly depending on conditions.

“The schedule is being consulted on among the three countries,” Moon said.

 By Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >

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