US Sells 36 Apache Helicopters To South Korea, North Korea: Provocative And Increases Regional Security Unstability

AH-64E Apache helicopter. (Wikimedia Commons/US Army/Capt. Jesse Paulsboe)

JAKARTA - North Korea's Foreign Ministry has condemned the planned sale of the AH-64 Apache helicopter by the United States to South Korea, vowing to take additional steps to increase self-defense, state media KCNA reported Friday.

The Pentagon said on Monday the US State Department had approved a potential sale of Apache helicopters and logistics as well as related support to South Korea with an estimated value of around USD 3.5 billion.

An unnamed senior official in charge of foreign news at North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press statement on Thursday criticizing the sale plan as a step to escalate tensions, along with annual military exercises that are ongoing by allies.

"This is a reckless provocative act that deliberately increases security instability in the region," the official said, according to KCNA.

The official accused Washington of escalating military confrontation, "disrupting military balance and thereby increasing the danger of a new conflict" in the region by supplying lethal weapons to allies and friends.

"Pyongyang's strategic silting will be further strengthened to protect national security and interests as well as regional peace," the statement said, pledging to continue carrying out military activities to improve self-defense.

Citing The Korea Times, there are a total of 36 AH-64E Apache Helicopters, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) headquartered in Uncle Sam's country.

The proposed list of purchases also includes up to 76 T700-GE-701D (72 installed, four parts) machines; up to 36 AN/ASQ-170 Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/AN/AAR-11 Modernized Pilot Night Vision Sensors; up to 14 AN/APG-78 Shot Control Radars (FCRs) with Tiang Rakitan (MMAs) and up to 14 FCRS AN/APG-78s with Radar Electronic Units (REUs), among others.

Previously, the South Korean military had imported 36 Apache AH-64E helicopters from the US and had been operating them since 2017.