South Korea to strengthen reconnaissance satellite capabilities

Felix Kim

South Korea is developing a constellation of five high-power military surveillance satellites. Code-named Project 425 by the Republic of Korea’s (ROK’s) Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the U.S. $900 million undertaking promises to build satellites with the latest detection devices capable of identifying and tracking mobile surface objects as small as cars on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas, according to reports. The satellites will enable South Korea to monitor threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Project 425 represents a significant upgrade to South Korea’s reconnaissance satellite capability, Dr. Kim Jae-yeop of the Graduate School of National Defense Strategy at ROK’s Hannam University told FORUMin late September 2018.

DAPA announced in April 2018 that Korean Aerospace Industries will lead a consortium that includes South Korea’s Hanwha Systems and the French-Italian Thales Alenia Space as the preferred bidder in Project 425, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. All three firms have been involved in developing satellites and satellite-related technology for Seoul for several years.

South Korea’s current satellite capabilities for strategic intelligence gathering are conducted by three multipurpose satellites, known as the Arirang series, Dr. Kim explained.

“These three satellites can monitor a certain point of the Earth every eight hours,” said Kim, “about two to three times in a day: morning, midday and night. It may be enough for acquiring general terrain information of hostile powers, but not good enough to offer critical information for national security; especially on urgent and time-sensitive military threats like mobile platforms capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction such as ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warhead and its land-based transporter.”

Once launched and fully operational, the five Project 425 satellites, by contrast, could monitor a given point on the Earth’s surface 10 times a day, at intervals of every two or three hours, Kim said

“This will definitely enable South Korean military to respond more timely and accurately on the threats of North Korea’s WMD arsenal,” he said, “which has become the most serious security challenge for Seoul.”

What’s more, Kim explained, the new satellites could enhance Seoul’s ability to verify Pyongyang’s participation in denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, currently being negotiated, should that need persist by the time of their expected full deployment in 2023. The satellites would also be unaffected by the recent agreement between Seoul and Pyongyang that limits the movement of fixed-wing aircraft over the peninsula.

“Project 425 will enable Seoul to keep and strengthen capabilities to gather critical information on Pyongyang’s military activities from both front-line and rear areas in the northern part of Korean Peninsula,” he said, “along with arms control efforts. This will help ROK to seek negotiations for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula with Pyongyang more actively, with stronger positions supported by robust defense capabilities.”

Military satellites have long been a central element in Seoul’s defense plans and feature in seven sections of the most recent defense white paper of the ROK Ministry of National Defense, published in May 2017. It recognizes satellites as necessary for: early detection of North Korean provocations; battlefield awareness; command and control intelligence systems; enhancement of combat mission training; and as a critical component in the Ministry of National Defense’s Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, designed to launch strikes immediately after detection of impending nuclear or missile provocations by Pyongyang.

“To be able to detect the earliest signs of North Korean provocations,” states the report, “the ROK military plans to continuously expand its independent surveillance capabilities by acquiring mid- to high-altitude reconnaissance UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), multipurpose satellites and military reconnaissance satellites.”

Felix Kim is aFORUM contributor reporting from Seoul, South Korea.