[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] The Key to Korea-US-Japan Intelligence Exchange is 'Real-Time'

The government announced plans to promptly establish a trilateral consultative body between South Korea, the United States, and Japan for real-time sharing of North Korean missile information, drawing attention to the sharing method.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 10th, a military official said, "We plan to make maximum use of the existing system, including the 'Trilateral Information Sharing Agreement' (TISA) among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, to share missile warning information of North Korea's launches in real time."

The Ministry of National Defense's emphasis on utilizing the past TISA method is interpreted as an attempt to avoid controversy over 'participation in the U.S. missile defense (MD) network.' However, until now, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan have not exchanged 'missile warning information,' which refers to the launch point, flight direction, and impact point, in real time. In particular, South Korea and Japan signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in November 2016 during the Park Geun-hye administration. Under this agreement, only military secrets below Level II are exchanged with Japan.

North Korean Missile 'Warning Information' Not 'Information'... Real-Time Detection, Tracking, and Information Exchange

However, going forward, the trilateral sharing system based on TISA will be exchanged in real time among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. The Ministry of National Defense draws a line by stating that it will not share 'missile information' that includes detection, tracking information, and engagement information.

To exchange missile information among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, a C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) system that shares information in real time between the Joint Chiefs of Staff?ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command and between the Combined Forces Command and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is in place, and it is expected to be connected with Japan.

South Korea and the U.S. already share information in real time through the C4I system. Specifically, information is shared through the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff's Korean Joint Command and Control System (KJCCS) and the U.S. side's Korea Theater-wide Combined Information Exchange System (CENTRIXS-K) within the Combined Forces Command.

South Korea and the U.S. Forces Korea have their respective ballistic missile operational control centers with C4I systems capable of detecting and tracking North Korean ballistic missile information. By connecting the C4I systems established at South Korea's operational control center 'KTMO-CELL' and the U.S. operational control center 'TMO-CELL,' South Korea and the U.S. share North Korean ballistic missile information in real time.

KTMO-CELL receives North Korean ballistic missile information detected through Aegis destroyers and Green Pine radar (L-band radar), while the U.S. TMO-CELL receives information detected from early warning satellites, Aegis destroyers, U-2S high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft, and Global Hawk (RQ-4B), respectively.

The U.S. TMO-CELL is also reportedly connected to the C4I systems of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the U.S. Forces Japan Command. In particular, since the U.S. and Japan have established missile defense (MD) systems citing North Korean missile threats, a real-time information-sharing C4I system is also established between the U.S. Forces Japan Command and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

As a result, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan real-time warning information sharing system is a system connecting KTMO-CELL↔TMO-CELL↔U.S. Indo-Pacific Command↔U.S. Forces Japan Command and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. A government official explained that information collected by Japan is also provided to the South Korean military via the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

A Ministry of National Defense official said, "The types and methods of shared information among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan are still under discussion, and nothing has been decided yet."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.