US military transport planes have flown out of South Korea in the past few days, flight-tracking data showed, after Seoul confirmed it was discussing the possible redeployment of US military assets as the Iran conflict escalates.
Data from the Flightradar24 Web site indicated that US military transport planes, including C-17 and C-5s, flew out of South Korea’s Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, one as recently as Saturday. It was not immediately clear what the aircraft were carrying.
Yonhap News reported earlier that US Forces Korea — which oversees the tens of thousands of US troops and military assets stationed in the South to help deter the nuclear-armed North — had been transferring Patriot missile launchers from across the South to the Osan base, citing government sources it did not identify.
Photo: EPA / Yonhap
It is rare for the C-5, relatively bigger than the C-17 aircraft, to land on the Korean Peninsula, Yonhap said.
The potential redeployment of military assets from South Korea would underscore how the Iran conflict might strain missile-
defense inventories.
Photo: AFP
The recent flights took place as the US and South Korea began their annual joint military drills.
This year’s drills are to feature less field training maneuvers than last year — in a likely nod to Seoul’s desire to ease tensions with North Korea.
REDUCED US DRILLS
The Freedom Shield exercises that began yesterday are to feature large-scale live training “aimed at enhancing interoperability, reinforcing our combined defense posture, and increasing overall combat readiness,” the US military said.
A South Korean Ministry of National Defense official confirmed that the number of field training maneuvers taking place before the drills conclude on Thursday next week has been more than halved to 22 from 51 last year.
It was not immediately clear if the reduction was in part due to the conflict in Iran. The defense ministry yesterday said that the drills are taking place according to plan “regardless of the situation in the Middle East.” It has also said that the militaries are planning to hold field training in a balanced manner throughout the year.
On Friday, South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun confirmed that Seoul was in talks with US Forces Korea over the possible redeployment of weapons systems.
He declined to provide details, saying decisions on deploying weapons and military personnel would be made on a case-by-case basis.
The defense ministry declined to comment on US military operations when reached by Bloomberg News. US Forces Korea declined to comment on the report, citing operational security.
“The mission of US Forces Korea is to maintain a strong combined defense posture with our military and thereby contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
“South Korea and the US will continue close communication and coordination,” it said.
Last year, US Patriot missile-defense batteries stationed in South Korea were temporarily deployed to the Middle East for “strategic flexibility,” Yonhap reported at the time, before being returned to the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea is also delivering about 30 interceptor missiles to the United Arab Emirates ahead of their agreed procurement schedule at the Middle Eastern country’s request, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing a government source it did not identify.
The defense ministry declined to confirm the report
US demand for interceptor missiles and strike munitions has surged following its attack on Iran. Tehran has intensified missile and drone attacks across the region, prompting Washington to bolster air defenses around key bases and allied states.
US-made Patriot air-defense missiles are effective in stopping Iranian drones, as well as the larger missiles they are meant for, but are more expensive than other methods and are in limited supply.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband is to serve a life sentence for his murder without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing a cocktail given to her husband, Eric Richins, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Feb. 14, 2022, with a
DELA ROSA CASE: The whereabouts of the senator, who is wanted by the ICC, was unclear, while President Marcos faces a political test over the senate situation Philippine authorities yesterday were seeking confirmation of reports that a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had fled, a day after gunfire rang out at the Philippine Senate where he had taken refuge fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. “Several sources confirmed that the senator, Senator Bato, is no longer in the Senate premises, but we are still getting confirmation,” Presidential
HELP DENIED? The US Department of State said that the Cuban leadership refuses to allow the US to provide aid to Cubans, ‘who are in desperate need of assistance’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that Cuba’s leadership must change, as Washington renewed an offer of US$100 million in aid if the communist nation agrees to cooperate. Cuba has been suffering severe economic tumult led by an energy shortage that plunged 65 percent of the country into darkness on Tuesday. Cuba’s leaders have blamed US sanctions, but Rubio, a Cuban American and critic of the government established by Fidel Castro, said the system was to blame, including corruption by the military. “It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” he told
Nauru said it would hold a referendum to change its official name, described as a colonial relic from a time when “foreign tongues” mangled the native language. Nauru would change its name to Naoero to “more faithfully honor our nation’s heritage, our language and our identity,” Nauruan President David Adeang said in a statement on Tuesday. The Pacific island nation’s native language is Dorerin Naoero, which is spoken by the vast majority of its approximately 10,000 inhabitants. “Nauru emerged because Naoero could not be properly pronounced by foreign tongues, and was changed not by our choice, but for convenience,” the government said in
RSS