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US approves potential sale of early warning aircraft to S. Korea
US approves potential sale of early warning aircraft to S. Korea
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Nov 5, 2024

The United States has approved the potential sale of airborne early warning and control systems to its ally South Korea, part of a nearly $5 billion military package.

The State Department said Monday that it had approved the sale of four E-7 Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft, 10 jet engines, and other systems and support elements at an estimated cost of $4.92 billion.

The early warning and control aircraft, known as Wedgetails, would enable South Korea to detect missiles and other threats more swiftly and from greater distances than ground-based radar systems.

"This proposed sale will improve the Republic of Korea's ability to meet current and future threats by providing increased intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and airborne early warning and control capabilities," the State Department said.

"It will also increase the ROK Air Force's command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) interoperability with the United States," it added.

South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration did not comment on the US authorization, but sources at the agency said that US-based Boeing was one of several companies under consideration for its airborne early warning aircraft project.

The US announcement comes as North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Tuesday, Seoul's military said, Pyongyang's second launch in days and just hours before the US presidential election.

North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile salvo ahead of US election
Seoul (AFP) Nov 5, 2024 - North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Tuesday, Seoul's military said, in Pyongyang's second launch in days which came as Americans vote for a new president.

The nuclear-armed North last week test-fired what it said was its most advanced and powerful solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in Kim Jong Un's first weapons test since being accused of sending soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.

Pyongyang, which has denied the deployment, is under growing international pressure to withdraw its troops from Russia, with Seoul warning Tuesday that thousands of soldiers were being deployed to frontline areas, including Kursk.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch of "several short-range ballistic missiles" at around 7:30 am Tuesday (2230 GMT) into waters east of the Korean peninsula.

The missiles flew approximately 400 kilometers (248 miles) and Seoul's military said it had tracked the launch in real time while sharing information with Tokyo and Washington.

"In preparation for additional launches, our military has strengthened surveillance and alertness," it added.

The United States, which was holding its presidential election, condemned the latest missile tests.

"These launches, as well as last week's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, are in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," a State Department spokesperson said, adding that they "undermine the global nonproliferation regime."

And at the United Nations, 10 of the 15 members of the Security Council issued a joint statement Tuesday, urging North Korea to give up its ballistic missile program.

In Japan, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said that the North's "repeated launches of ballistic missiles threaten the peace and security of our country".

- 'Aggressive nature' -

On Sunday, South Korea, Japan and the United States conducted a joint air drill involving a US B-1B bomber, South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets, and Japanese F-2 jets, in response to the ICBM launch.

Such joint drills infuriate Pyongyang, which views them as rehearsals for invasion.

Pyongyang's latest launch was "a direct response to the trilateral aerial exercises over the weekend", Han Kwon-hee of the Korea Association of Defence Industry Studies told AFP.

"Given it was a salvo of short-range missiles, the North is indicating that it not only has long-range missiles capable of reaching the US, but also short-range ones to target all bases in South Korea and Japan," Han added.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of the country's leader and a key spokesperson, called the US-South Korea-Japan exercises an "action-based explanation of the most hostile and dangerous aggressive nature of the enemy toward our Republic."

In a statement carried Tuesday by the official Korean Central News Agency, she said the drill was "absolute proof of the validity and urgency of the line of building up the nuclear forces we have opted for and put into practice."

Seoul has long accused the nuclear-armed North of sending weapons to help Moscow fight Kyiv and alleged that Pyongyang has moved to deploy soldiers en masse since Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defence deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.

"More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are currently in Russia, and we assess that a significant portion of them are deployed to frontline areas, including Kursk," Jeon Ha-gyu, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, said Tuesday.

Seoul, a major weapons exporter, has said it is reviewing whether to send weapons directly to Ukraine in response, something it has previously resisted due to longstanding domestic policy that prevents it from providing weaponry into active conflicts.

With its recent testing spate, "Pyongyang is showing that its contribution of weapons and troops to Russia's war in Ukraine does not curtail its military activities closer to home," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

"On the contrary, cooperation with Moscow appears to enable blatant violations of UN Security Council resolutions."

On Monday, Robert Wood, US deputy ambassador to the UN, accused Russia and China of preventing the UN from holding Pyongyang to account.

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