AirForces Monthly – July 2018

n July 27, 1953, after three years

of intense war, a ceasefire was

signed between North and South

Korea. Ever since then the conflict has

had the potential of flaring up again and

numerous incidents have taken place in

the following decades. In the last decade,

the North’s nuclear ambitions – along with

continuing ballistic missile tests – have put

its neighbours, as well as the United States,

South Korea’s main ally, on edge. However,

things began to change at the beginning of

2018, with North Korea announcing the Seoul-

Pyongyang hotline would be restored, an

inter-Korean summit would take place in April,

and President Donald Trump declaring that a

meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-

un was scheduled for June 12. President

Trump later cancelled the summit, before

backtracking, and the meeting was reinstated.

While relations between the three parties

currently appear more cordial, there is still

international scepticism that this new bond

will last. The Han-guk Kong Goon (Republic

of Korea Air Force, ROKAF) would face an

enormous challenge should the two Koreas

go to war again. Not only can the North

put up many, albeit obsolete, aircraft, it

also possesses a formidable amount of

artillery and mobile missile launchers with

which it can strike its southern neighbour.

It’s estimated that North Korea is capable

of firing up to 10,000 artillery rounds per

minute, which could inflict 20,000 South

Korean casualties per day during the

opening stages of a potential conflict.

According to the International Institute

for Strategic Studies, North Korea also

possesses the world’s third largest stockpile

of biological and chemical weapons.

O

n July 27, 1953, after three years While relations between the three parties

O

While tensions in the region reached a high with North Korea’s sixth nuclear test last September,

there’s been a dramatic de-escalation since early this year. Robin Polderman looks at the

Republic of Korea Air Force and the challenges it faces should a second Korean war break out.

56 // JULY 2018 #364 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

ROKAF at a crossroads

Republic of Korea Air Force

Korean

standoff