SEOUL, April 6 (AJP) — The war in the Gulf is underscoring a critical lesson for South Korea, which faces its own security risks on the Korean Peninsula: the growing role of Chinese AI and satellite technologies in tracking and exposing military movements.
Chinese firms are increasingly using publicly available data — including commercial satellite imagery, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals — and applying AI to integrate and analyze them to track military activity.
By combining multiple datasets, these systems can infer troop movements, carrier routes and force deployments without relying on classified intelligence.
China-based geospatial analytics firm MizarVision has released analyses tracking U.S. carrier strike group movements and troop deployments in the Iran conflict, highlighting how AI is evolving beyond data processing into a tool capable of reconstructing military intelligence.
China is also accelerating efforts to integrate domestically developed AI models into military systems, including autonomous drones, simulation platforms and battlefield automation.
The U.S. House Select Committee on China has described such applications as an “imminent threat,” while U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington is aware of the developments and is taking steps to respond.
While Seoul aims to rank among the world’s top three AI powers, analysts say it still trails the United States and China, with constraints in skilled labor and private investment limiting its ability to respond to AI-driven security risks.
The implications extend beyond technology competition, pointing to structural shifts in the security environment.
Lee Shin-wha, a professor of Political Science and Diplomacy at Korea University, said advances in AI and data are rapidly blurring the boundary between the economy and national security.
“Security is no longer defined solely by military power,” she said. “It is evolving into a new domain that integrates data, AI and cyber capabilities, placing South Korea in a more exposed position between China and North Korea.”
She warned that long-standing asymmetric capabilities developed by China and North Korea in cyber domains are now expanding through the use of commercial technologies and data.
Lee also raised concerns over data security, saying potential data flows and leakages in key industries such as semiconductors and advanced manufacturing should be treated as national security issues, calling for stronger legal and institutional safeguards.
As information approaches real-time availability, she said, warfare is likely to shift further into information and cognitive domains, warning that failure to secure information superiority could leave countries at a strategic disadvantage.
Kang Jun-young, a professor at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said the use of commercial resources for military purposes has already become unavoidable.
He added that governments should strengthen legal frameworks and clearly define policy responses to address the issue at the national level.
Lee also stressed the need for a broader security strategy that extends beyond traditional military power to include cyber and cognitive domains, requiring coordination across government and closer collaboration between technical experts and policymakers.
She noted that key institutions such as the National Intelligence Service already treat cyber capabilities as a core pillar, but said further efforts are needed to strengthen expertise and institutional capacity.
Lee also pointed to the growing role of asymmetric technologies such as drones, noting that lessons from the Russia–Ukraine war demonstrate how they can reshape the battlefield.
She warned that advances in AI and data technologies have “opened a Pandora’s box,” calling for an integrated national strategy that aligns technological development with security policy.
Concerns are also rising over how these trends could apply to the Korean Peninsula.
Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the People Power Party said “China is helping Iran by analyzing commercial satellite data to disclose U.S. aircraft deployments and carrier movements,” warning that similar exposure could occur in Korea.
He said key facilities — including Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, as well as Gyeryongdae and Cheongju Air Base — could be vulnerable to detection through high-resolution satellite imagery and data analysis.
Yu urged the government to treat the issue as an immediate security concern, calling for measures such as hardened aircraft shelters and stronger monitoring of Chinese commercial satellite activity.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.