In view of speculation about a war-related relocation of US military equipment from South Korea to the Middle East, the government in Seoul has expressed concerns.
03/10/2026, 07:0103/10/2026, 07:01
Depending on how the situation develops, US forces in Korea may “send some air defense systems abroad according to their military needs,” President Lee Jae Myung said during a parliamentary session, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. Accordingly, he admitted his powerlessness:
“We have expressed our opposition, but the reality is that we cannot fully enforce our position.”
US cargo planes in South Korea.Image: keystone
Speculation about US transport aircraft
The background is media reports about the recent arrival of large US transport aircraft at the Osan air base south of Seoul. This sparked speculation that Patriot missile defense systems could be moved from South Korea to other bases – for example to the Middle East, where war has resumed since the Israeli-American attacks on Iran.
However, Lee emphasized that relocating individual military systems would not seriously weaken deterrence against its hostile neighbor North Korea.
According to Yonhap, two Patriot batteries had already been relocated in June last year when the US military carried out major attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. The systems were returned to South Korea in October. (sda/dpa)