Taps Coogan – July 20th, 2022

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South Korea recently joined the club of countries with space-launch capabilities after the successful launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II last month from it Goheung launch site. The rocket carried a collection of small satellites and a test-payload.

As the following chart from Statista highlights, only 11 countries have indigenously developed space launch capabilities: the USSR (subsequently Russia and Ukraine), the US, France, Japan, China, the UK, India, Israel, both Koreas, and Iran. In essentially every case, the technology’s development is inseparable from its ‘dual use’ function as the platform for intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles (ICBMs). While South Korea doesn’t formally claim to possess nuclear weapons, the recent development of nuclear weapons by North Korea and the fact that the South Korea has all of the materials and knowhow to make nuclear weapons should color how we interpret their decision to develop a space-launch platform at this time. South Korea is simultaneously demonstrating its first indigenous stealth fighter, which took first flight yesterday (a clear knock-off of the F-22), and has reportedly started developing nuclear powered submarines. For anyone keeping track, South Korea is pursuing all the platforms of a nuclear triad. South Korea is sending a pretty clear message as the odds of a ‘big war’ in Asia keep ratcheting up.

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