ANTI-CHINA SPACE PROGRAM
U.S. to Launch Regional Space Force Command in Korea

By Roh Suk-jo
November 28, 2022 

The U.S. Space Force will set up a regional command at U.S. Forces Korea headquarters this year.

A USFK spokesman told the Chosun Ilbo on Sunday that the first regional command was launched under the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii on Nov. 22, and more regional commands will be established here and at U.S. Central Command this year.

The announcement comes after North Korea escalated missile provocations and launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the space command here will have about 20 staff.

"This suggests that the U.S. military regards the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia including the nuclear missile threat from the North as serious," a military source said. "The regional space command will have a small staff initially but will expand over time."

 
It will be tasked with detecting and track flying objects like North Korean missiles that pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies. In recent strategy documents, the U.S. military disclosed plans to launch regional space commands in all parts of the world.

/AFP-Yonhap

The regional command will also serve as a hub for sharing information between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. At their summit on Nov. 13, President Yoon Suk-yeol, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to share missile information in real time.

Seoul and Washington are strengthening military cooperation in preparation for various kinds of provocations from the North, including possibilities of a fresh nuclear test.

South Korea is expected to send marine troops to take part in a drill with the U.S. Marines in San Diego, California next year for the first time.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force executed a B-2 Spirit "elephant walk" and fly-off to conclude annual exercises at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. "This routine training ensures our airmen are always ready to execute nuclear operations and global strike anytime, anywhere," according to the base in Missouri.

A researcher at the RAND Corporation told Voice of America the B-2 is a serious threat to the North Korean regime "in terms of its ability to get to targets and destroy them without the North Korean knowing it's coming."

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