US army helicopters to be redeployed in Korea in 5 years

The National Defense Ministry said Wednesday that one U.S. battalion of 30 armed reconnaissance helicopters will return to South Korea as of October 1. The battalion left Korea in 2008 for Iraq and was relocated to a base in Washington, the U.S. in 2009.

A source at the ministry said, “30 Kiowa•OH-58D (photo) and 380 U.S. soldiers will station in Camp Humphreys, a U.S. army base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to focus on aerial reconnaissance and attack for defense in time of emergency as part of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces." Returning to South Korea in five years, the battalion will take on the preparation for North Korean commando’s surprise infiltration through the Yellow Sea and North Korea’s sudden occupation of South Korean islands in the Yellow Sea.

Korea-U.S. military authorities have been taken seriously a scenario that North Korean special forces cross the Northern Limit Line on air-cushion vehicles and take over northwestern islands. An Apache helicopter battalion of U.S. Forces is in charge of interrupting any attempts for maritime infiltration by North Korean special force. The second division of U.S. forces stationing in South Korea used to operate three Apache helicopter battalions. However, one battalion was relocated to Iraq in 2004 and one more was sent to Afghanistan in 2009, leaving only one battalion in South Korea. This means lack of defense in the Yellow Sea.

Despite efforts by the U.S. Defense Department such as dispatching F-16 fighters after transferring the Apache battalions and by the Korean military including introducing alternatives utilizing F-5 fighters and low-speed fighters, nothing could completely replace Apache battalions. In the mean time, North Korea established an air-cushion vehicle base in Guam port last year, which is only 50 kilometers away from South Korean islands in the Yellow Sea, and beefed up ambush landing drill. This led the KOR-U.S. military authorities to decide to fill the place of the Apache battalions.