As relations between South Korea and its North Korean counterpart descend down a dangerous escalatory spiral, Washington and Seoul continue to invest in technology aimed at safeguarding South Korea’s security. Due to its versatility, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter platform has become a key part of the shared U.S.-Republic of Korea toolkit to deter and defeat North Korean aggression.

Pyongyang reacted with fury to earlier reports that the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) is on the cusp of accepting its first delivery of F-35 jets, calling South Korea’s procurement of Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation stealth fighter an “extremely dangerous action” and threatening that “the South Korean authorities had better come to their senses before it is too late.” But of all its many ongoing defense projects, why is it that South Korea’s F-35 acquisition has evoked such a stark reaction from its northern counterpart? The DPRK’s military establishment is petrified of ROKAF operating F-35 squadrons, and for good reason.

There is a Kill Chain strategy in South Korean military doctrine; namely, a detection and preemption plan to execute a series of rapid precision strikes against North Korean missile sites and other military assets. ROKAF’s F-35 procurement will greatly enhance its ability to penetrate deep into North Korean airspace and suppress DPRK missile/air defense sites, making the Kill Chain concept more of a reality than ever before. With its superior stealth performance and extensive ground-strike capability, the F-35 can likewise wreak havoc on North Korea’s numerous Cold War-era artillery installations. The Kill Chain plan allows for the possibility of North Korean counterstrikes in response to South Korea’s initial preemptive strike—here, too, the F-35 jet can make a meaningful difference on the battlefield. With its advanced suite of onboard sensors and ability to generate a dynamic picture of the battlefield that can be fed to nearby friendly units, U.S. and ROK F-35s can spearhead South Korea’s efforts to contain North Korea’s retaliatory strikes with minimal damage to critical ROK infrastructure. 

North Korea’s latest KN-06 surface-to-air missile system (SAM)—seemingly a derivative of Russia’s 1970’s S-300 SAM—could conceivably counter older systems like the F-15 Eagle and its later variants, but falters against fifth-generation stealth fighter technology. Put simply, North Korea’s anti-air forces lack the means to effectively resist a weapons platform as sophisticated as the F-35 jet. Meanwhile, North Korea’s decrepit, Cold War-era fighters are in no position to context air superiority against U.S. fighter wings spearheaded by the F-35 jet. Carrier strike groups with the carrier-based F-35C variant are a further source of U.S. force projection against Pyongyang, positioning the U.S. Navy to strike large swathes of North Korean political and military infrastructure while mitigating North Korea’s capacity to retaliate.  

Whether through a precision strike against DPRK nuclear missile sites or in the context of a larger conventional conflict on the Korean Peninsula, the F-35 platform gives the United States and its allies the ability to quash a prospective conflict with North Korea swiftly, effectively, and with relatively minimal risks to U.S. and allied assets. No less importantly, its procurement by ROKAF sends an unmistakable signal to Pyongyang that South Korea and the United States are more than capable of responding to aggression with overwhelming airpower. 

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest. 

Image: Reuters