United States, Japan, and South Korea to Cooperate in Sharing Information about North Korea’s Missile Program

Defense chiefs from the United States, South Korea, and Japan have agreed on a mechanism to share data on North Korea’s missile launches amid concerns over growing nuclear and missile threats from Pyongyang.

The agreement among the three countries was reached as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, in Seoul on Nov. 12. Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara joined the meeting online.

The mechanism will “facilitate the exchange of real-time missile warning data and improve each country’s ability to monitor missiles launched by [North Korea],” according to a statement from the Pentagon. The plan is in the final testing stages and will be fully operational by the end of December.

The three defense chiefs also agreed to speed up and finalize a multiyear plan for trilateral military exercises to enhance security cooperation among the three powers more efficiently.

Missile defense is one of the major trilateral cooperations that leaders of three countries agreed upon to strengthen at the Camp David summit in August amid regional tensions.

“Our countries have taken initial steps to test our technical capabilities for real-time sharing of missile warning data. We are committed to pursuing enhanced ballistic missile defense cooperation to counter [North Korea] nuclear and missile threats.” according to a joint statement by the three allies at that time.

North Korea has repeatedly tested missiles in recent years despite sanctions from the UN Security Council and the West. The regime has conducted over 80 ballistic missile tests since 2022, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service. Through these series of tests, North Korea has improved its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that can strike the continental United States, researchers said.

The report cited an assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency, saying the North Korean Hwasong-17 ICBM is “probably designed to deliver multiple warheads” as the missile has a bigger diameter and propulsion capability.

Threats From Solid-Fuel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

In April, North Korea announced that it had tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong-18, a development set to “radically promote” its forces, which experts said would facilitate missile launches with little warning.

Analysts said it was North Korea’s first use of solid propellants in an intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missile, a key task to deploying missiles faster during a war.

Most of North Korea’s largest ballistic missiles use liquid fuel, which requires them to be loaded with propellant at their launch site—a time-consuming and dangerous process.

“For any country that operates large-scale, missile-based nuclear forces, solid-propellant missiles are an incredibly desirable capability because they don’t need to be fueled immediately prior to use,” Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Reuters. “These capabilities are much more responsive in a time of crisis.”

North Korea first displayed what could be a new solid-fuel ICBM during a military parade in February after testing a high-thrust solid-fuel engine in December.

Last week, North Korea announced that it designated Nov. 18 as “missile industry day” to mark its ICBM Hwasong-17 in November last year, a major South Korean news agency Yonhap News Agency reported.

Earlier this month, Tokyo residents took part in an evacuation drill following a series of recent missile test launches from North Korea.

Reuters contributed to this article