Why is the United States moving air defenses from South Korea to the Middle East?

BarcelonaThe United States, in the midst of its war with Iran, is running short on air defense systems. This is demonstrated by this week's announcement to relocate these systems from South Korea to the Middle East. Seoul's conservative government has protested the decision, which exposes it to an attack from North Korea and raises serious questions about Donald Trump's commitment to his long-standing ally. Specifically, the Pentagon is moving the two most advanced types of air defense systems in the world: the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile system and the Patriot missile batteries. The Pentagon has seven THAAD systems, two of them in Asia: one on the island of Guam in the Western Pacific, serving as a deterrent against China, and the one previously located in South Korea, to prevent a North Korean attack. The remaining systems are currently distributed among five air defense regiments, one of them in Israel.

A battery that generated tension from the beginning

The THAAD system, now en route to the Middle East, was installed nearly a decade ago in Seongju, a town in South Korea that overnight became a key point for defending against Pyongyang. Seoul ignored protests from residents who complained of being targeted by the military and deployed the missile defense system there. The move was met with strong disapproval from both China and Russia, who believed THAAD could compromise their security. The system consists of a missile battery and a transportable radar capable of intercepting both drones and ballistic missiles, and takes at least a year to build. Furthermore, its extremely high construction cost explains the scarcity of such systems worldwide. To make matters worse, the Iranian military claims to have destroyed four THAAD radar systems at bases in Al Ruba (Iraq), Al Ruwais (United Arab Emirates), Al Kharj (Saudi Arabia), and Al Azraq (Jordan).

What is the relationship between the United States and South Korea?

This Asian country is the most important US ally in East Asia, along with Japan. Amid a war that raises questions about US military capabilities, Seoul now fears that North Korea (which possesses nuclear weapons) will exploit a vulnerable situation to pressure them. This fear is further aggravated by the good relations between Trump and Pyongyang's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un.

The Seoul government has not hidden its displeasure. "We have expressed our opposition, but it is a reality that we cannot allow it to be completely imposed according to our position," stated South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at a cabinet meeting. However, he emphasized that this transfer should not pose a serious problem for the deterrence strategy against North Korea and that the country has sufficient military capacity to ensure its defense.

Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington are conducting a joint military exercise, Freedom Shield, which is generating tension with North Korea. In fact, the North Korean leader's sister, Kim Yo-jong, has already warned that these maneuvers could have "terrible consequences," in what they consider a rehearsal for an invasion of their territory. The United States and South Korea have stated that they are purely defensive in nature.

Trump's military capabilities in doubt

Transferring military arsenal to the Iran war while neglecting another front can only demonstrate one thing: the US military It has supply problems: Its military capacity continues to dwindle amid a new war that is proving very costly and years of sending equipment to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. In the first six days of the war in the Middle East, the United States spent more than $11 billion, according to a Pentagon estimate. This figure is still incomplete and is expected to be higher when the operational costs of the initial offensive are taken into account. General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had already warned Trump before the operation that a prolonged conflict with Iran could deplete the stockpile of precision weapons, an assessment that the Trump administration has downplayed.