U.S. Reaper to be deployed in Korean Peninsula

With South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the U.S. around the corner in late April, South Korea and the U.S. are reportedly pushing for the deployment of Reaper (MQ-9), an unmanned aerial vehicle known as “the assassin in the sky,” to the Korean Peninsula. Some analyze that the plan is related to efforts by South Korea and the U.S. to strengthen their joint planning and execution for the deployment of the U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in order to provide extended deterrence against North Korea. “There has been an in-depth discussion between the two nations to deploy a wider range of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula more often than before,” a senior government official said.

According to the reports by The Dong-A Ilbo on Monday, South Korea and the U.S. are pushing to have Reapers and other unmanned attack aircraft stationed in a Self-Defense Forces base in Kagoshima Prefecture of Kyushu, Japan, participate in the joint squadron military exercises, which are scheduled to run from Apr 17 to 28. The Reaper, which was deployed to Japan in October last year, was first deployed to the Korean Peninsula on March 3, where it conducted joint drills with B-1B strategic bombers.


Kyu-Jin Shin newjin@donga.com