U.S. Forces Korea will create a space force unit in light of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile threats.

According to multiple government sources on Saturday, the U.S. Defense Department plans to set up a component command of the U.S. Space Force at the USFK by the year-end.

In the recently announced National Security Strategy, the U.S. military said it is pushing to establish space commands in its combat commands as well to achieve all-domain integrated deterrence. 

The USFK's component command is expected to link up with other Space Force commands to enable real-time sharing of intelligence on North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.

The United States Space Force, established in 2019, controls space assets such as satellites and other surveillance and detection missions including those for missile defense.

The U.S. Space Force Indo-Pacific was launched just this Tuesday and USFK's space unit will likely be only the second such command outside of U.S. mainland. Another space force unit is expected to be activated under the U.S. Central Command in the Middle East later this year.

An official at the Korea Research Institute for Military Affairs said that such a move indicates that Washington is seriously viewing missile threats posed by North Korea and Iran.