South Korea is opposed to the U.S. moving air defense assets out of the country, but it is not in a position to make demands, President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday.
Lee briefed the cabinet that “The USFK may dispatch some air defense systems abroad in accordance with its own military needs. While we have expressed opposition, the reality is that we cannot fully push through our position.”
The USFK refers to U.S. Forces Korea, the command authority for Washington’s forces in South Korea, with about 28,500 personnel.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun reportedly said on Friday that Washington was in talks with Seoul over redeploying Patriot air defense batteries in South Korea for use in the conflict in the Middle East.
Quelling concerns over South Korea’s defense preparedness against North Korea, Lee maintained that even if the assets were moved out of the country, it would not cause a “serious setback” to its deterrence capability against North Korea, according to a CNBC translation of his comments in Korean.
