A U.S. expert says U.S. military bases across the Pacific—including in South Korea, Japan and other regional locations—are “highly vulnerable” to potential attacks using missiles and drones from North Korea and China. The warning appears in an op-ed by Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), published by The Wall Street Journal.
Jones links the risk to the changing nature of drone and missile warfare, citing lessons from the war in Ukraine that prompt extensive protections for bases and critical infrastructure. He argues the United States has been “too slow” to apply those lessons, including in its broader posture in the Middle East, where reports say it is running low on some missile defense interceptors.
In his assessment of the Pacific, Jones characterizes China as a more serious threat than Iran, citing China’s larger and more capable stockpiles of drones and various missile types, including cruise, ballistic and hypersonic systems. The outlets summarize the same core claim and framing, without adding contrasting technical details or alternative explanations for the vulnerability.
