'Battle station confirmed': If North Korea attacks, this squadron can respond in two minutes

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'Battle station confirmed': If North Korea attacks, this squadron can respond in two minutes

Published: 23 May. 2025, 06:00

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

The Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) conducts a simulation of air threats over the Korean Peninsula at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on May 21. [AIR FORCE]

South Korea’s Air Force on Wednesday unveiled its top-secret Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) to the media for the first time, revealing the nerve center of the country’s missile defense system which monitors North Korean and regional threats around the clock and enables rapid interception and counterstrike operations.

At the KAOC operations room within the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday, Colonel Park Geun-hyung, head of combat operations, conducted a training simulation for air threats over the Korean Peninsula at the Air Force’s Master Control and Reporting Center (MCRC), also known as the “Top Dais.”

“20th Fighter Squadron, battle station!” Park commanded, to which an officer answered, “Battle station confirmed.”

Eight seconds after Park’s order and the unit’s confirmation, a large screen at the front of the top dais showed, in real time, pilots and maintenance personnel running toward the KF-16 fighter jet igloos, or hangars, at Korea's 20th Fighter Wing in Seosan, South Chungcheong.

It took just over two minutes for the pilots to get into their cockpits and complete preparations for takeoff. In a real situation, the aircraft must be airborne and establish aerial communication within approximately 10 minutes.

Such emergency situations occur frequently, not only in response to North Korean threats but also due to the increasing incursions into Korea's air defense identification zone (Kadiz) by China and Russia in recent years.

KAOC includes both the MCRC and the Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) operations centers.

With North Korea pursuing miniaturized tactical nuclear weapons and diversifying its delivery platforms, and recently even showing off live-fire tests of air-to-air missiles, tension was palpable inside KAOC.

The Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) conducts a simulation of air threats over the Korean Peninsula at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on May 21. [AIR FORCE]

24-hour surveillance of everything

After passing through rigorous security procedures to enter KAOC, a chill swept over.

Upon entering the windowless, multilayered, secure facility, the expression “we wear thermal underwear even in midsummer,” as one KAOC official put it, made sense.

After walking for some time through mazelike, winding corridors, the MCRC and other facilities finally came into view.

KAOC serves as “eyes,” meticulously monitoring the skies over the Korean Peninsula.

It thoroughly scans the entire Korean Peninsula and the airspace over the East Sea using fixed and mobile radar, as well as airborne early warning and control aircraft.

The Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) conducts a simulation of air threats over the Korean Peninsula at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on May 21. [AIR FORCE]

In emergencies, interception operations with Cheongung-I and II and Patriot surface-to-air missiles deployed nationwide are also commanded from here.

The radar network operated by the Air Force picks up not only enemy and neighboring aircraft but also clouds and flocks of birds.

Inside the dark KAOC, service members monitor this data on various consoles and screens, performing friend-or-foe identification and responses on a 24-hour four-shift schedule.

Looking at the status board showing the airspace above the peninsula, only one aircraft, marked in red, appeared over North Korean airspace. It highlighted the grim reality that even military or civilian aircraft barely fly over North Korea.

The Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) conducts a simulation of air threats over the Korean Peninsula at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on May 21. [AIR FORCE]

Three to eight minutes response time

The Air Force also unveiled the KAMD Operations Center, which oversees missile defense operations across the Korean Theater of Operations.

This was its first public disclosure since July 2023, when the Ballistic Missile Operations Cell was renamed following a capability upgrade. Though not officially confirmed, the KAMD Operations Center has doubled its operational capabilities, including missile trajectory detection range, according to the JoongAng Ilbo.

The center aggregates missile trajectory information from U.S. early warning satellites, radar assets of the Air Force's Space Operations Squadron and Aegis destroyers of the South Korean Navy.

The consolidated ballistic missile data from the KAMD center is transmitted via tactical data link to missile defense units, which then prepare to intercept with Cheongung-II and Patriot missiles in areas expected to be impacted.

When North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on May 8, detection and analysis also occurred.

Depending on the type of missile, the military estimates that North Korean ballistic missiles could reach the greater Seoul area in as little as three minutes and Busan in eight minutes.

North Korea has fired approximately 300 missiles in over 130 launches over the past 10 years since 2014, with the majority being close- or short-range provocations, according to the military.

The Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) conducts a simulation of air threats over the Korean Peninsula at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on May 21. [AIR FORCE]

The KAMD Operations Center also enables the kill chain operations of the three-axis system, which refer to pre-emptive strikes upon detecting signs of launch.

It back-calculates the missile’s flight path detected at the KAMD center to estimate the launch site and transmits it to the counterballistic missile (CBM) operations room.

The CBM room then mobilizes available joint air assets to conduct kill chain operations.

Missile information sharing among South Korea, the United States, and Japan — including the AN/TPY-2 radar at U.S. bases in Japan and Japan’s Jadge ground radar — is also conducted at the KAMD center.

U.S. service members were frequently seen in the corridors of KAOC. It was clear why the Air Force refers to this place as “the heart of allied air operations.”

Even during peacetime, KAOC jointly conducts missions with the Korean Air and Space Operations Center to integrate allied surveillance and reconnaissance assets.

In wartime, the air force commanders of South Korea and the U.S. monitor operational conditions and airspace information in real time from here, overseeing reconnaissance, defense, attack air operations and wartime missile operations of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC) conducts a simulation of air threats over the Korean Peninsula at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on May 21. [AIR FORCE]

North’s military power quantum leaping

The military is paying close attention to the rapid advancement of North Korea’s missile technology following its cooperation with Russia.

In particular, cruise missiles flying at low altitudes are difficult to detect with ground-based radar alone.

To compensate, the Air Force operates E-737 airborne early warning and control aircraft, which have so far successfully tracked all North Korean cruise missiles.

However, with only four E-737s available, the failure of even one could create gaps in surveillance. Drones smaller than three meters (9.8 feet) in size also make radar surveillance difficult.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, having gained experience in Ukraine, ordered mass production of suicide drones. To counter this, the military is utilizing the Army’s air defense radar.

The Air Force receives this information via the MCRC and responds with air operations when necessary.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE YU-JUNG [[email protected]]