South Korea’s military chief on Wednesday called for US strategic assets to be stationed here, saying the two allies needed to take “strong measures” against North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. 

During a 20-minute phone call, Lee Sun-jin, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a request to his US counterpart, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford that Washington deploy strategic assets, including nuclear-capable bombers and aircraft carriers, on the Korean Peninsula this year. 

“Gen. Lee stressed the need for enhanced US extensive deterrence to prevent North Korea’s provocation,” the JCS said in a statement, noting that Pyongyang would attempt provocations around Feb. 16, the birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il, or this March, when the allies conduct combined military exercises.

A permanent stationing of US strategic assets on the peninsula has been brought up by Seoul since Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests last year. Among the assets suggested are the B-1B strategic bomber and Nimitz-class supercarrier USS Carl Vinson Strike Group, which is expected to participate in the Key Resolve military exercise between the two countries next month. 

But the former Barack Obama administration appeared skeptical about the permanent deployment in the face of budget restrictions and possible strategic repercussions. The new Donald Trump administration is likely to be even more hesitant, given the president’s call for allies to pay a greater share of defense costs.

With the South Korean military’s constant request for the assets’ stationing, Seoul and Washington instead launched a vice-ministerial consultative body last year, the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group, through which they will continue discussions over ways to better execute the US defense commitment. 

Earlier in the day, the US Pacific Air Forces Command said it will deploy 12 F-16 fighter planes to South Korea this month, a first routine deployment of strategic assets since the inauguration of Trump late last month. 

“About 200 airmen and 12 F-16 Fighting Falcons with the 119th Fighter Squadron from Atlantic City Air National Guard Base, New Jersey, are set to deploy in February to Osan Air Base,” the command said on its website.

Since 2004, the US Pacific Air Forces has deployed a unit, such as of fighter jets, to the peninsula. Currently, there are about 60 F-16s stationed here. 

The deployment is part of its “theater security packages,” which help maintain a deterrent against threats to regional security and stability, said the command. TSP is a temporary deployment from the continental US of a force whose aim is to augment its Air Force presence in a specific region. 

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)