South Korea Requests UAVs

Filed in archive Aviation News on November 12, 2006

South Korea has told the United States that it wants to purchase four Global hawk surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles to track North Korean activities, the U.S. has expressed concerns about the compromise of sensitive technology, leading Washington to hesitate at making the sale.

In September, a South Korean official said Seoul would make an informal request for the UAVs during the upcoming Security Policy Initiative talks. The request will be South Korea's third attempt to obtain the UAVs. The first was made in June of 2005 and was rejected without comment.

An August 2006 request was made in writing to the U.S. Department of Defense and has yet to receive a response.

Although no official U.S. concern has been publicly stated, some officials believe the fear of technology leaks will again kill any possibility of a deal.