Lee indicates an 'opposing view' to USFK asset relocation

President Lee Jae Myung speaks after hearing a report on strengthening a joint emergency response system among relevant agencies in response to the situation in the Middle East during a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on March 10. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that his government expressed "an opposing view" to the potential relocation of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) assets stationed on the peninsula outside the region, marking a rare public disclosure of military information regarding Seoul's ally.
 
USFK has moved a significant number of interceptor missiles from the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system deployed in Seongju, North Gyeongsang, to Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, according to multiple sources, at a time when the U.S. military has expended massive amounts of munitions in an attack on Iran dubbed Operation Epic Fury. Seoul has "voiced an opposing view" but will not have much leverage, according to President Lee.
  

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“The recent controversy over the removal of USFK missile batteries and air defense weapons is growing,” Lee said at a Cabinet meeting he chaired at the Blue House in central Seoul on Tuesday. “We voiced an opposing view, but it is also the undeniable reality that we cannot fully have our way.”
 
In addition to the reportedly relocated Thaad systems, Patriot defense systems previously confirmed for relocation have not yet been shipped out from Osan.
 
Because the air base is a facility frequently used by U.S. transport aircraft, the government speculates that relocation may only be a matter of time. U.S. authorities began procedures around Sunday to remove Patriot launchers, interceptor missiles and offensive artillery.
 

A U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery is seen in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, on March 5. [YONHAP]

 
"The Pentagon is moving parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system from South Korea to the Middle East," The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing two anonymous U.S. government officials. "The military also is drawing from its supply of sophisticated Patriot interceptors in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere to bolster its defense against Iran’s drone and ballistic missile attacks."
 
The article claimed that the Pentagon "burned through $5.6 billion worth of munitions during the first two days of its military assault on Iran," citing three U.S. officials. The newspaper said that the figure "underscores the deepening alarm among some on Capitol Hill over the speed at which U.S. forces have eaten into the scarce supply of America’s most advanced weaponry."
 
This is the first time part of the Thaad system has been moved off the Korean Peninsula since the deployment of a battery in Seongju was completed in September 2017. A battery typically consists of interceptor missiles, launchers and an X-band radar.
 
The U.S. military has classified the interceptor missiles as the first items to be drawn from the system, according to JoongAng Ilbo sources. A Thaad battery is made up of six launchers, each carrying eight interceptors. No signs of movement involving the radar or launchers have been detected so far.
 

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors are stationed on a base that was formerly a golf range in Sangju, North Gyeongsang, in 2023. [YONHAP]

 
Analysts say Washington’s redeployment of USFK assets to the Middle East could become a practical turning point that expands the role of USFK beyond defense against North Korea and beyond the Korean Peninsula.
 
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the war is “very complete, pretty much,” but some argue that Iran still has ample missile stockpiles.
 
If the war drags on, securing enough interceptor missiles could prove decisive, and analysts say it is only natural for Washington to issue what amounts to a full mobilization order for the assets of U.S. forces stationed around the world, including USFK. That means additional assets could still be pulled out of South Korea.
 
That can also be seen as an expansion of USFK’s role beyond a defensive deployment on the peninsula.
 
That is also why some argue that the Iran war could become a catalyst for strengthening the Trump administration’s posture on "strategic flexibility." The administration had been pushing for the "modernization of alliances" and expanded strategic flexibility, largely with an eye toward keeping China in check, but the unexpected war in the Middle East appears to be broadening that posture even further.
 
“Patriot systems in Europe are tied up in Ukraine and NATO deterrence, so pulling them out would immediately create major repercussions,” said Lee Byong-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University. “But Patriot assets in South Korea have long been treated by the United States as redeployable within the framework of strategic flexibility."
 

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks to reporters as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens while traveling aboard Air Force One en route from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on March 7. [AP/YONHAP]

 
“This move is not just support in the war against Iran,” Lee continued. “More broadly, it can be read as a signal that Washington wants to change the nature of USFK from a force defending the Korean Peninsula into a mobile reserve linked to the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East.”
 
President Lee’s unusual decision to publicly express opposition to the removal of USFK assets also appears connected to that situation. “We expect U.S. Forces Korea to contribute entirely to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, just as it has done so thus far,” the president said on Tuesday, a possible allusion to the view that USFK’s original role is to focus on defense against North Korea.
 
Lee’s remark that Seoul may not push its opposing views also appears to stem from the same context. There are said to be no written rules currently governing procedures for transferring USFK assets between the two countries.
 
In diplomatic circles, the prevailing view is that the principles on USFK strategic flexibility agreed by the two sides at the first ministerial strategic dialogue under the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2006 are being applied again here.
 

Smoke plumes into the sky in Tehran on March 4. [UPI/YONHAP]

 
At the time, the two countries announced in a joint statement that South Korea, as an ally, fully understood the rationale behind changes in U.S. global military strategy and respected the need for strategic flexibility for USFK.
 
Washington said it respected Seoul's position that implementation of strategic flexibility would not result in the South Korean people being drawn, against their will, into conflicts in Northeast Asia.
 
That language largely reflected concerns about being entangled in a contingency involving Taiwan. The Iran war, however, cannot be seen as a conflict in Northeast Asia, leaving the government with weak grounds for objection.
 
In particular, Article 4 of the Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea provides that the United States has the right to station its land, sea and air forces in and about the territory of South Korea.
 
Because the stationing of U.S. forces is a right held by Washington, that clause can be interpreted as allowing relocation without South Korea’s consent. That is also why some say this should be seen as a potential preview of the situation after the transfer of wartime operational control (Opcon).
 

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby speaks during a forum hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on March 4. [YONHAP]

 
U.S. officials have recently continued to stress that South Korea has agreed to assume responsibility for major conventional defense against North Korea, as Elbridge Colby, the U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy, said on March 3. If South Korea takes over Opcon, the size and role of USFK are likely to change significantly.
 
That may also help explain why Lee, who has long expressed a commitment to self-reliant national defense, explained that the transfer of USFK air defense assets would not create any obstacle at all to South Korea’s deterrence strategy against North Korea.
 
"If you ask if our deterrence strategy against North Korea is severely disabled [because of a possible shift of such assets], I can say absolutely not," Lee said. “There is absolutely no reason to worry about national defense when considering objective conditions such as South Korea’s level of defense spending, the development of its defense industry and its international military ranking."
 
“If Opcon is transferred in the future, the movement or redeployment of specific capabilities and assets held by USFK will inevitably occur,” said Park Ihn-hwi, the dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Ewha Womans University. “This is especially tied to a situation in which the United States, under the banner of alliance modernization, is emphasizing South Korea’s responsibility for security on the Korean Peninsula, so the government must pay very close attention.”
 
“South Korea should use this as an opportunity to strengthen its own security capabilities,” Park added. “At the same time, it needs to send a clear message to the U.S. side that there must be no security vacuum on the Korean Peninsula through a division of roles between USFK and the South Korean military.”


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIM SEOK-YONG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]