South Korea says it can deter threats from North if US shifts weapons to Middle East

SEOUL: South Korea said on Wednesday it could deter threats from the North even if the United States relocated some of its military assets to the Middle East amid the war in Iran.

Washington, Seoul’s key security ally, stations about 28,500 troops and a range of air and missile defence systems in the South to help deter aggression from the nuclear?armed North.

The Washington Post reported this week that the United States was moving parts of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system from South Korea to the Middle East, citing unnamed officials.

“Regardless of whether certain USFK assets are deployed overseas, there is no issue whatsoever with our deterrence posture against North Korea, given the level of our military capabilities,” the defence ministry said in a statement said on Wednesday, referring to the United States Forces Korea command. It declined to confirm the report.

According to Washington Post, US plans to redeploy parts of a missile defence system

The THAAD missile defence system is designed to intercept short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles using hit-to-kill technology.

It was installed in South Korea in 2017, a move that sparked strong protests from China. President Lee Jae Myung has said his government is unhappy with the reported asset move but acknowledged there was little it could do about it.

“The government is opposing the USFK’s withdrawal of some air defence weapons for its own military needs,” he said on Tuesday. “But the stark reality is that we are unable to fully implement our opinions.” A photo taken by Yonhap news agency last week and released on Tuesday appeared to show parts of the THAAD battery being dismantled in Seongju County, about 220 kilometres south of Seoul.

A presidential official said it was “inappropriate” to comment on questions regarding any military asset redeployment and cautioned against media speculation. “Speculative reports on militarily sensitive matters are undesirable in light of our security interests… and our relations with key Middle Eastern countries,” he said.

Pyongyang felicitates Mojtaba

North Korea respects Iran’s choice of a new supreme leader, state media said on Wednesday, accusing the US and Israel of undermining regional peace.

Pyongyang, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran as an “illegal act of aggression”.

“We respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” Pyongyang’s unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The official said the United States and Israel are “destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide”. The spokesperson accused Washington and Israel of violating Iran’s “political system and territorial integrity”..

Such actions “deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated,” the official added.

‘Terrible consequences’

Pyongyang’s state media also said on Wednesday that North Korea’s leader oversaw another test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from the naval Choe Hyon destroyer.

North Korea carried out a similar missile test from the vessel last week, claiming the country was in the process of “arming the Navy with nuclear weapons”. During the occasion, Kim stressed the importance of expanding a “powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA said.

Images released by state media showed Kim overseeing the launch remotely via video footage with his teenage daughter, Ju Ae, who is now widely regarded as his heir apparent.

There, Kim said “important successes” have been made in the practical deployment of “strategic and tactical strike means”. South Korea’s spy agency has said Pyongyang appears to have begun the process of designating Ju Ae as leader Kim’s successor, with the North frequently releasing photographs of the young daughter accompanying her father on official duties.

The test came as Washington and Seoul kicked off their springtime military drills “Freedom Shield” on Monday, to which Pyongyang responded by warning of “unimaginably terrible consequences”.

The Choe Hyon is one of two 5,000-ton destroyers in the North’s arsenal, both launched last year as Kim seeks to ramp up the navy with short-range tactical missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

North Korea appears to be “securing the legitimacy and justification for bolstering war deterrence,” Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, said. With the war in Iran, the joint US-South Korea drills are being highlighted by the North “as not merely defensive and routine, but ultimately attempts at a preemptive war”.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2026

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