U-2 spy plane took off from US base in Korea during China’s drills in Taiwan Strait

Some observers worry that South Korea may become embroiled in a conflict between the US and China

A US U-2 surveillance plane is show in air. (courtesy US Air Force)

A U-2 reconnaissance plane belonging to US Forces Korea reportedly flew near the Taiwan Strait on Friday, while China was conducting military exercises blockading Taiwan in opposition to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-governing island. With tensions on the Taiwan Strait reaching unprecedented levels, observers are voicing concern that US military bases in South Korea may come to serve as launch bases for holding China in check.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Monday that according to Flightradar24, a website specializing in tracking flight trajectories in real time, a U-2 reconnaissance plane that took off from Osan Air Base Friday morning flew towards the Taiwan Strait from waters west of Jeju Island around 9:35 am the same day.

Around Friday, China designated six areas near Taiwan as blockade training sites while launching missiles and flying warplanes across the median line of the Taiwan Strait. Although the U-2 reconnaissance plane belonging to USFK was not detected near the Taiwan Strait, it is presumed to have flown towards the Taiwan Strait considering its previous flight path.

First used in actual combat in 1955, U-2s spied on military facilities of the USSR and were also known as “Cold War warriors.” Even after the Cold War, the reconnaissance aircraft has stayed in business with new airframes and modernized equipment. Assigned to USFK during the mid-1970s, U-2s are used to monitor the movement of the North Korean military near the DMZ. Three U-2 planes take turns on watch in the air above areas that lie within 20 kilometers of the DMZ.

Up until now, when tensions between the US and China escalated near the Taiwan Strait, US Forces Japan or the US military sent from the US mainland typically were the ones to respond, but starting in 2020, U-2 planes belonging to USFK have joined forces.

This particular spy plane appeared over the Yellow Sea near the Shandong Peninsula and near Bohai Bay in August 2020, when the Chinese military conducted live-fire drills there, and was sent near the Taiwan Strait in December 2020 and January and February 2021, according to domestic and foreign media.

Members of civil society worry that South Korea may become embroiled in unwanted conflict if the US uses South Korea as its launch base, mobilizing US forces stationed in Korea to engage in conflict with China.

Cheong Wook-Sik, director of the Hankyoreh Peace Institute and director of the Peace Network, commented, “We need to find a way to avoid getting involved in a potential collision between the US and China, starting from sovereign control over US military power that utilizes our territory. We need to find the role we must play for peace on the Taiwan Strait.”

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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