The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea yesterday, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.
The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan Air Base near Seoul came after North Korea test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months.
“Just 48 miles north of us exists an existential threat; a threat that we must be prepared to deter, defend against, and – if required – defeat,” Lt. Col. Joshua McCullion, chief of the new space unit, said during the activation ceremony at Osan. He apparently refered to North Korea, whose heavily fortified border with South Korea is just an hour’s drive from Seoul, the South’s capital.
The unit belongs to the U.S. Space Force, which was launched in December 2019 under then-President Donald Trump as the first new U.S. military service in more than 70 years.
