U.S. Forces Korea beefs up air defense exercise to counter N.K. missile threats

SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has reinforced its air defense exercise in the wake of recent North Korean missile launches, its officials said Tuesday, highlighting its security commitment to defend South Korea "against any threat and adversary."

Armed with Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors, the USFK's 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade recently increased the "intensity" of its readiness certification exercise, they said.

The unit validated their mission requirements "by moving to a remote location, occupying its wartime defensive position, emplacing the Patriot missile system, and executing air and missile defense operations under a simulated combat scenario," the USFK said in a press release.

"While this type of training is routinely conducted by U.S. Patriot batteries across the ROK, its increased intensity of its certification underscores the seriousness USFK takes against the DPRK's recent missile launch behavior," it added. "USFK remains at a high level of readiness and continues to maintain a robust combined defense posture to protect the ROK against any threat or adversary."

The ROK and the DPRK stand for the official names of South and North Korea -- the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, respectively.

The strengthening of the exercise comes amid concerns the North could conduct another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system test under the disguise of a satellite development project.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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