U.S. has 30 ground-based interceptors for missiles from N. Korea: Gates By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Yonhap) -- The United States has 30 ground-based interceptors targeting missiles from North Korea, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday.

"The advice that I got is, first of all, that system really is only capable
against North Korea, and that 30 interceptors at the level of capability that
North Korea has now and is likely to have for some years to come, 30 interceptors
in fact provide a strong defense against North Korea in this respect," Gates told
a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
He was explaining the Barack Obama administration's plans to cut back the budget
for an increase of the interceptors to 44.
"The decision not to go to 44 interceptors at this point does not mean we'll
never go to 44 interceptors, or at least more than 30," he said. "It's just that,
over the period of the next few years, we don't see the need to go to the
additional interceptors, given the pace at which North Korea is developing its
program."
Gates' remarks come amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after North
Korea launched a rocket on April 5, leading the U.N. Security Council to sanction
three North Korean firms involved in the trade of parts of missiles and other
weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea insists the launch put a satellite into space, but the U.S. and its
allies see it as a cover for a ballistic missile test.
In response to the U.N. action, North Korea withdrew from the six-party nuclear
talks and threatened to conduct further nuclear and missile tests and restart its
disabled nuclear facilities unless the security council apologizes.
General Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. troops in South Korea, told a Senate
Armed Services Committee hearing in March that North Korea has been "fielding a
new intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of striking Okinawa, Guam and
Alaska, and continues to develop and mature systems with an intercontinental
range capability,"
He also said at the time that North Korea "views its ballistic missile programs
as a source of prestige, a strategic deterrent, a means of exerting regional
influence and a source of hard currency."
Gates, meanwhile, did not rule out the possibility of increasing the number of
the interceptors in the future. "I see this as not a static process where we have
a finite testing period and then stop and just have the status quo for an
extended period of time, but rather a dynamic process where we are continually
updating and improving the capabilities of those ground-based interceptors."
The U.S., meanwhile, will add six Aegis-equipped missile defense ships for the
terminal phase, he said.
"We max-out the THAAD, which is a terminal defense," he said. "We max-out the
inventory build of SM-3 missiles, Standard Missile-3. And so I think we're in
pretty good shape on the terminal side, and we're adding to those capabilities."
The theater high-altitude area defense (THAAD) system was designed to destroy
ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, or just seconds before they explode
over U.S. cities or military assets.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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