Chiefs of South Korea’s JCS, US Spacecom meet

Kim Myung-soo, the chair of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Stephen Whiting, the commander of the US Space Command, met on Monday in Seoul.

According to the JCS, Kim and Whiting held a meeting to discuss close two-way cooperation and to enhance South Korea-US alliance’s space capabilities amid growing North Korean threats in space and ongoing military exchanges between Russia and North Korea.

North Korea launched its first military reconnaissance satellite in November last year, with plans to launch several more in the next few years.

More specifically, the JCS said the discussion on Monday included ways for strengthening capabilities for conducting joint space operations and for establishing a bilateral consultative committee for military space cooperation as well as for holding joint tabletop exercises.

Whiting, sworn in as the chief of US Spacecom in January, is in South Korea for a two-day visit from Sunday to gain an on-the-ground understanding of the Indo-Pacific region, the JCS said.