The U.S. military has formally launched a space force unit in South Korea, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.


Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, center, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea attends the activation ceremony for the United States Space Forces Korea in Pyeongtaek, South Korea Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. U.S. military set up space-monitoring organizations, United States Space Forces Korea, in South Korea, aiming to keep an eye on North Korea's nuclear and missile activity as its capabilities continue to improve. (Song Kyung-Seok/Pool Photo via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.

The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan Air Base near Seoul came after North Korea test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months. 

“Just 48 miles north of us exists an existential threat; a threat that we must be prepared to deter, defend against, and – if required – defeat,” Lt. Col. Joshua McCullion, chief of the new space unit, said during the activation ceremony at Osan. He apparently refered to North Korea, whose heavily fortified border with South Korea is just an hour’s drive from Seoul, the South's capital.

The unit belongs to the U.S. Space Force, which was launched in December 2019 under then-President Donald Trump as the first new U.S. military service in more than 70 years.

The Space Force was seen soberly as an affirmation of the need to more effectively organize for the defense of U.S. interests in space — especially satellites used for civilian and military navigation, intelligence and communication. A previous Pentagon report said China and Russia had embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict.