U.S. Army Patriot missile launchers are positioned during a readiness exercise at an unspecified military base in South Korea, March 18, 2023. (Gregory Menke/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — About 200 U.S. troops based in South Korea have been temporarily redeployed to the Middle East, according to a South Korean military official cited in a local news report.
The soldiers were part of a Patriot missile-defense unit stationed in South Korea and deployed to an undisclosed location the Middle East last month, the Ministry of National Defense official told South Korean broadcast KBS for a report Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, a common practice for government sources in the South.
The South Korean defense ministry referred questions to U.S. Forces Korea, which oversees approximately 28,500 American troops on the peninsula.
In an email Monday, USFK spokesman David Kim said the command “maintains a ready, capable and lethal force” but declined to provide further details, citing operational security.
Patriot batteries are deployed across U.S. military bases in South Korea to protect against potential threats from the North.
Modern versions of the system, which was first used in combat during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, are capable of carrying up to 16 missiles designed to intercept and destroy incoming projectiles.
Nearly two months ago, Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers that a Patriot battalion had recently been transferred from his area of responsibility to U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East and South Asia.
Speaking during an April 10 Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, Paparo said the move required 73 C-17 Globemaster III transport flights.
The airlift coincided with a U.S. military buildup in the region in response to attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. President Donald Trump had pledged to stop Houthi strikes on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and ordered the USS Carl Vinson to join the USS Harry S. Truman near Yemen’s coast for nearly two months starting in April.
Since March, U.S. forces have struck more than 1,000 militant targets in Yemen, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on April 29.
Nine days later, Trump said the U.S. will cease the bombing missions after the terrorist-designated organization claimed it will stop its sea-based attacks.
