By Yeo Jun-suk
South Korea’s Air Force on Friday announced a plan to establish a new surveillance unit by the end of this year, which it said would boost the capability to detect any preparations in North Korea for nuclear and missile attacks.
The envisioned “Air Intelligence Wing,” to be formed by Dec. 1, will have a task organization and mission largely based on those of the 37th tactical intelligence group located in US Osan air base, it said.
Employing Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance drones and South Korea’s own medium-altitude drones, the new unit is envisioned to play a key role in Seoul’s own preemptive strike scheme, such as “Kill-Chain” system, it added.
“The unit will maintain 24/7 intelligence watch and detect any indications and warnings,” Gen. Yoon Byeong-ho, chief of the Air Force’s Policy Office, told a parliamentary audit session. “It would focus on collecting and analyzing intelligence for the Air Force’s aerospace operation.” Faced with North Korea’s ever-growing nuclear and missile capabilities, South Korean Air Force has been honing on its own preemptive strike system by developing its own reconnaissance and surveillance assets and acquiring some from the United States.
Among them are RQ-4 Global Hawks, which are to be delivered to South Korea next year. The drones will serve as a key plank of a sensor network designed to watch North Korea for an advance warning of missile launches and nuclear attacks.
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