The new hypersonic missile test by North Korea is a harmful expansion of its military capabilities, scuttling East Asia’s stability and raising serious issues with global security.
This martial development is largely attributed to Pyongyang’s extremely strategic relationship with Russia, which was established through a high-stakes quid pro quo.
Moscow is reportedly providing Pyongyang with superior weapons technology in exchange for North Korea’s crucial military aid for Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, giving North Korea the tools it needs to accelerate its weapon modernization program.
The effects of this relationship go far beyond the Korean Peninsula. By acquiring developed missile systems, including hypersonic weapons, North Korea is significantly enhancing its reach features, posing a direct and immediate risk to South Korea, Japan, and US troops in the region.
This military alignment poses the risk of severing decades of efforts to maintain regional stability and forcing neighbors to make drastic adjustments to the shifting power balance.
South Korea’s defense policymakers must address North Korea’s expanding military might right away. Failure to act decisively risks dragging South Korea into a new era of heightened geopolitical instability, where rogue regimes, emboldened by shared interests, pose an escalating threat to regional security and sovereignty.
Conventional posture
South Korea’s defense strategy has prioritized maintaining air dominance on the Korean Peninsula ever since the 1953 Korean War armistice. The constant acquisition of cutting-edge aircraft, the construction of strategic airbases, and unwavering allies have been key components of this strategy.
This approach has enabled South Korea to operate cutting-edge fighter jets, such as the F-35 stealth fighters, giving it a decisive technological advantage over North Korea’s outdated air force. Key airbases like Osan, Kunsan, and Daegu serve as pivotal hubs for projecting airpower.
The United States has played a critical role in enhancing South Korea’s air capabilities through joint operations, intelligence sharing, and the provision of advanced weaponry.
This air-dominance tactic has been successful in preventing North Korean aggression and enabling quick response capabilities. However, the rise of hypersonic missile threats has exposed critical vulnerabilities, necessitating urgent adjustments to South Korea’s defense framework.
Hypersonic missiles, with their unmatched speed, maneuverability and precision, pose a game-changing challenge that can quickly destabilize the balance of power.
These missiles can travel at speeds over Mach 5, significantly reducing the time it takes to detect and intercept. Their inability to follow radar and missile defenses and their unpredictable flight patterns render existing air defense networks insufficient.
Given the proximity of North Korea, hypersonic missiles can strike any location in South Korea within a few minutes, leaving minimal time for countermeasures.
This capability directly threatens South Korea’s airbases, which, due to their limited number, are highly vulnerable to saturation attacks. South Korea’s air force would be crippled if a successful strike on these crucial facilities, undermining its main defense strategy.
The successful testing of hypersonic missiles by North Korea signals a significant change in its military strategy, focusing on asymmetric capabilities to offset South Korea’s technological prowess.
Hypersonic missiles pose a more immediate and practical threat than South Korea’s defense strategy, which has largely focused on thwarting North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
Hypersonic missiles are much more likely to be used in a conflict than nuclear weapons, which are primarily used as deterrents because of their disastrous effects.
This growing threat necessitates a thorough review of South Korea’s defense priorities and a shift to tactics designed to mitigate the unique risks posed by hypersonic weapons.
New defense strategy
South Korea must urgently update its defense strategy to ensure greater resilience and adaptability in light of the unprecedented threat posed by hypersonic missiles.
Strengthening its security posture requires upgrading missile defense systems, diversifying force structures, reinforcing ground forces, leveraging cyber and space capabilities, and deepening alliances and partnerships to address this fast-evolving danger.
South Korea must prioritize the creation and deployment of advanced missile defense systems specifically designed to counter hypersonic threats as the power balance shifts on the Korean Peninsula. To improve its defensive capabilities, it should include more potent early warning systems, directed energy weapons, and integrated defense networks.
Upgraded radar and satellite systems must be a key component of this new strategy in order to enhance missile launch and booster detection. Currently, South Korea relies on traditional systems such as THAAD ( Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ) and KAMD ( Korea Air and Missile Defense ).
While effective against conventional ballistic missiles, these systems may fall short against hypersonic missiles, which travel at lower altitudes, exceed Mach 5 speedsand maneuver unpredictably, making them difficult to track with conventional radar.
At present, South Korea’s early warning network includes the Green Pine radar, AN/TPY-2 radar ( part of THAAD), and Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers. The Green Pine Block-C radar can detect ballistic missiles at ranges up to 800 kilometers, while the AN/TPY-2 radar offers detection beyond 1, 000 kilometers.
The SPY-1D radar aboard Aegis destroyers provides high-resolution tracking and interception for mid-course missile trajectories. These systems are also designed for ballistic missiles with predetermined flight paths, which may be challenging to follow due to hypersonic missiles, which change direction in flight and travel at fast speeds.
Additionally, South Korea’s boost-phase detection capabilities are insufficient for hypersonic threats, which accelerate rapidly after launch, reducing response time for interception. Additionally, these missiles ‘ unique thermal and electromagnetic signatures cannot be identified by the current radar infrastructure.
South Korea must invest in cutting-edge technologies like advanced laser and electromagnetic systems to neutralize hypersonic missiles in flight in order to close these gaps.
Strengthening coordination between ground-based and naval defense systems to create layered, real-time protection is equally critical. Without these novel adaptations, South Korea’s current defense strategy will continue to be increasingly vulnerable to hypersonic missile attacks.
South Korea’s defense strategy’s heavy reliance on a few large airbases is inherently vulnerable, necessitating a shift towards decentralized air assets, mobile launch platforms, and hardened underground facilities.
The major airbases currently supporting South Korea’s air defense include Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, housing the US 51st Fighter Wing and South Korean 19th Fighter Wing, Kunsan Air Base on the western coast with the US 8th Fighter Wing, Cheongju Air Base, a key logistics hub with F-15K fighters, Gimhae Air Base in Busan, Daegu Air Base, home to South Korea’s 11th Fighter Wing, and Seosan Air Base, operating F-35A stealth fighters.
Additionally, Camp Humphreys is the largest US military base outside of the United States, supporting air defense operations. Currently, over 70 % of South Korea’s air defense assets and manpower are concentrated in these bases.  ,
Due to North Korea’s new missile capabilities, a significant risk exists from this reliance on centralized infrastructure. South Korea needs to start considering setting up smaller, dispersed airfields to reduce vulnerability, develop mobile missile and aircraft platforms for operational flexibility, and build underground facilities that can withstand advanced missile attacks in order to reduce risk.
These measures would improve survival and give a more resilient defense posture that can deal with threats effectively.
Beyond decentralizing air forces, South Korea must prioritize bolstering its ground forces in order to have a more balanced and potent defense strategy. Modernizing tanks, artillery and infantry systems, along with asymmetric warfare training, is essential to counter the new threats.
Ground forces must be equipped for urban combat, counter-insurgency, and irregular warfare to neutralize both conventional and unconventional adversaries. Establishing rapid deployment units with high mobility and flexible response capabilities across the peninsula will increase deterrence and ensure operational readiness against evolving threats.
South Korea must strengthen its advanced cyber and space capabilities in order to compete with its conventional military might in order to combat emerging threats. The Cyber Operations Command, responsible for cyber defense, must enhance both offensive and defensive measures to disrupt North Korea’s command-and-control systems.
Exploring space-based reconnaissance and secure communications using the Korea Multipurpose Satellite ( KOMPSAT ) series and the recently launched military communication satellite ANASIS-II is equally important. In the face of ever-evolving threats, strengthening these capabilities will significantly improve South Korea’s situational awareness and give it a more robust, multi-domain defense posture.
South Korea’s relationship with the US is important, but it may not be sufficient to fend off new threats. To create effective collective security mechanisms, South Korea must actively engage regional partners like Japan, Australia, and India.
To improve intelligence-sharing, technology exchange, and defense cooperation, it is necessary to engage more deeply in multilateral frameworks and strengthen ties with international organizations. Expanding these partnerships will enhance South Korea’s strategic autonomy and promote regional stability in the face of changing security challenges.
Implementation challenges
Revising South Korea’s defense strategy is urgent but faces significant obstacles, including resource constraints, shifting political priorities and widening technological gaps.
Significant investment is required to develop new technologies and modernize existing ones, which could further strain the economy. In a divided political climate, it’s equally challenging to win bipartisan support for defense reforms.
Additionally, reliance on foreign suppliers to bridge domestic technological limitations risks compromising South Korea’s strategic autonomy. Addressing these challenges demands bold leadership, a long-term vision and innovative solutions to secure a resilient and future-ready defense posture.
Failure to adapt, however, will leave South Korea dangerously exposed to evolving threats. East Asia’s security dynamics have been reshaped by the rapid development of hypersonic missile technology, with North Korea’s expanding ability to attack critical infrastructure undermining South Korea’s air superiority doctrine.
South Korea must immediately adopt a multi-dimensional defense plan that includes advanced missile defense systems, diversified force structures, enhanced ground forces, and integrated cyber and space assets.
South Korea requires a steadfast, stable, and visionary leadership to protect its interests from growing threats in light of the Korean Peninsula’s rapidly shifting power balance.
South Korea’s military and political leadership must remain focused on the changing regional dynamics and refrain from getting sucked into internal political snucks. National security must never be compromised by internal conflict or domestic political objectives.
Unwavering vigilance and proactive strategies are required to deal with the growing threats coming from across the border. South Korea should anticipate and prepare for potential difficulties rather than reacting in secret. This calls for a unified national security framework that transcends political divisions, continuous improvement of defense capabilities, and strategic foresight.
In this volatile environment, complacency is not an option. South Korea’s leaders must adopt a forward-looking security doctrine, ensuring that the nation remains prepared to counter any threat to its stability.
In order to safeguard South Korea’s future, it will be crucial to maintain a strong military posture, strengthen intelligence capabilities, and form stronger alliances with like-minded partners.
The resilience of South Korea’s national security architecture is a key factor in its future prosperity and survival. Therefore, preserving the nation’s sovereignty in the face of evolving threats must remain a non-negotiable priority.
Lakhvinder Singh is the Asia Institute in Seoul’s director of peace and security studies.