Tag: missile defense

It looks like the “Not In My Backyard” crowd has already started protesting the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

The official announcement of deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in Korea is bringing a huge backlash from residents of areas which are rumored to be candidate sites for the system.

People in the regions claim the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will pose serious health risks to them and environmental damage due to strong electromagnetic waves.

Immediately after the announcement Friday, residents in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and Waegwan of Chilgok County in North Gyeongsang Province, the two key candidate locations, expressed vehement opposition.

A coalition of 25 civic groups in Pyeongtaek, where the United States Forces Korea (USKF) headquarters will be moved, said they will hold a press conference on July 19 to announce their protest plans to block the possible deployment there.

“The noise and electromagnetic waves emanating from THAAD radar will pose grave health threats to residents here,” the coalition said in a statement.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but like most Korean protests these people are blatantly lying to get public sentiment behind them.  Anyone can Google and find out the safe keep out zones for the THAAD radar.  In fact it is published in the draft Environmental Assessment document for the THAAD unit on Guam that can be downloaded at this link.  Here is an excerpt from the document that discusses the safe keep out zones for the radar:

After what has seemed like never-ending negotiations the US and the ROK have agreed to finally deploy a THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

South Korea and the United States agreed to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, the two allies announced Friday, drawing protests from China and throwing the Korean Peninsula into geopolitical turmoil.

“The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States made an alliance decision to deploy THAAD to U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) as a defensive measure to ensure the security of the ROK and its people,” the Ministry of Defense and the USFK said in a joint statement.

It said the deployment of the advanced U.S. missile defense system is to protect alliance military forces from North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats.

The two are “working closely to ensure the swift deployment of THAAD” and will develop specific operational procedures, it said.

Several hours after the announcement, China denounced both Seoul and Washington, with its foreign ministry expressing “strong discontent and firm opposition” against the two countries’ agreement. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the locations being considered for hosting the THAAD site are Pyeongtaek, Wonju, Waegwan and Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province.  It will be interesting to see if the Korean left will try and demagogue and launch Camp Humphreys expansion style protests against the building of the THAAD site.

It will also be interesting to see if the Chinese try to retaliate against the ROK in some way?  Considering how the Chinese continue to funnel cash and goods to the Kim regime despite sanctions, they have no creditability to oppose this deployment.

Considering the short time of flight of incoming enemy missiles, missile defense operators in South Korea do not have time to call the South Korean Defense Minister for approval to engage an incoming target.  It is also pretty ridiculous that there is even a debate on whether a missile from North Korea projected to impact within South Korea should be considered a wartime act or not:

A debate is escalating over command of THAAD, the U.S. anti-missile defense system, and whether the United States or South Korea is to have the final say on a response in the case of a North Korea attack.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo told parliamentarians Tuesday in a scenario of a North Korean ballistic missile attack, Seoul has four to eight minutes to respond, local newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.

“A very sophisticated operation management procedure has been developed,” Han said.

Han’s response, however, evaded a question from Justice Party spokesman Kim Jong-dae, who had asked Han which military would issue the command to intercept an incoming missile, Yonhap reported.

Han later added South Korea holds “operational control” during peacetime and U.S. Forces Korea plays a role in support of that strategy.

But Han did not say whether a fired missile coming from North Korea qualifies as an action of peacetime or wartime.  [UPI]

You can read more at the link.

The Patriot PAC-3 is designed to shootdown short range ballistic missiles not an intermediate range missile which the category the Musudan falls under.  That is what the THAAD system is for:

A medium-range ballistic missile launched Wednesday by North Korea flew at an average speed of Mach 11.3, or 11.3 times faster than the speed of sound, according to an analysis of a timeline seen on a monitor at the launch site.

The hypersonic speed of Mach 11.3 has sharply raised concerns about the capabilities of the Patriotic Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system that the South Korean military has purchased to upgrade its existing PAC-2 missile defense system. The PAC-3 flies at Mach 3.5 to 5 and intercepts incoming missiles at altitudes of up to 40 kilometers (25 miles).   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but a professor at the Korea National Defense University explains in the article that THAAD can shoot down the Musudan.  This is all the more reason why both Japan and the ROK should look at either purchasing their own THAAD system or deploying one into theater from the US.

ROK unsure of end date for THAAD discussions. Seoul should explore deployment of Aegis ashore system as well. https://t.co/hXUGLxBPQs

— Daniel A. Pinkston (康大植) (@dpinkston) June 2, 2016

Considering the history between South Korea and Japan, this cooperation in regards to missile defense is pretty significant and hopefully will open the door to more future military engagement that is in the best interests of both countries:

South Korea, Japan and the United States will hold their first joint missile defense drill in Hawaii next month, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday.

The trilateral antimissile defense drill is expected to kick off on June 28 and will take place on the sidelines of Rimpac, or the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise. This multinational naval maneuver, which takes place every two years, will last between June 30 and Aug. 4.

Moon Sang-gyun, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said that Seoul is partaking in the trilateral drill designed to detect missile launches from North Korea and track their trajectories, “for more effective defense” against Pyongyang’s threats and in line with the three countries’ intelligence-sharing pact.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Here is what President Obama had to say about the current way ahead with North Korea during an interview with CBS News’ Charlie Rose recently.  It appears that the deployment of THAAD is very likely considering the US President is now commenting on upgrading the posture of missile defenses against North Korea:

In regards to North Korea, Mr. Obama described the regime as “a massive challenge.”

“Our first priority is to protect the American people and our allies, the Republic of Korea, Japan, that are vulnerable to the provocative actions that North Korea is engaging in,” Mr. Obama said.

He said North Korea is “erratic enough” and the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is “irresponsible enough that we don’t want them getting close.”

“But it’s not something that lends itself to an easy solution,” Mr. Obama said. “We could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals. But aside from the humanitarian costs of that, they are right next door to our vital ally, Republic of Korea.”

Mr. Obama explained how the U.S. has been preparing to fend off threats from North Korea.

“One of the things that we have been doing is spending a lot more time positioning our missile defense systems, so that even as we try to resolve the underlying problem of nuclear development inside of North Korea, we’re also setting up a shield that can at least block the relatively low-level threats that they’re posing right now,” Mr. Obama said.  [CBS News]

You can read more at the link.

The deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea is taking another step closer to becoming reality:

The United States and South Korea are expected “within a week” to hold the first meeting of a joint working group aimed at discussing the proposed deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Wednesday.

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told the House Armed Services Committee that it will take some time to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to the South as the working group has determine the right location and other details.

“We’re forming a joint working group that I think will have its first meeting within a week,” he said. “THAAD is a complex system. It’s going to take some time for us to find the right location because where you locate it makes a difference on how effective it is. So we got to find the right location and do that work, which we will do in accordance with our SOFA.”  [Yonhap]

The Chinese are still complaining about the deployment and I really like what the PACOM commander Admiral Harris had to say in response:

U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. criticized China’s opposition to THAAD, saying it is “preposterous that China would try to wedge itself between South Korea and the United States for a missile system designed to defend Americans and Koreans.”

It is good to see someone calling out the Chinese on how preposterous their criticisms of the THAAD deployment are.

It looks like the ruling Saenuri party in South Korea is trying to get out ahead of the Korean left by addressing any environmental concerns with THAAD early in the deployment decision making cycle.  This is actually a good play by the ruling party because like I predicted before environmental and safety concerns is a typical left wing tactic in Korea to attack the US military with and the THAAD issue is a perfect time to use it again:

Lee Cheol-woo, also a Saenuri lawmaker, agreed with Kim Jae-won although he underscored a need to settle public concerns on health and security risks associated with THAAD.

“The villagers living in the neighborhoods cited as the sites for THAAD deployment are worried about possible exposure to strong electromagnetic radiation emitted from THAAD radar as well as environmental pollution,” Lee said. “It will be important to settle such concerns before setting up a THAAD battery.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I am sure a lot of due diligence will be done by USFK to ensure the proper military location for the THAAD system is chosen, but I would have to think political concerns have to weigh into the deployment location as well.  If land has to acquired to deploy the system we could see a repeat of what happened in 2005 when land had to be acquired for the Camp Humphreys expansion.  The Korean left would love to start another movement like that to stop the THAAD deployment.  If the deployment can happen with no land needing to be acquired I would expect the Korean left to next claim the THAAD hurts the environment in some way.  So hopefully USFK has all their environmental impact studies dusted off and ready to go to counter such claims:

A heated dispute is underway regarding possible sites to locate a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery with South Korea and the United States scheduled to begin talks as early as this week on whether the missile-defense system is to be deployed.

Where the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will locate the THAAD unit involves a variety of conflicting matters ranging from reactions from neighboring countries including China, along with possible safety and environmental threats to nearby residents.

Locations cited as possible sites for THAAD include Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, Daegu, and Waegwan in North Gyeongsang Province. The USFK’s Camp Humphreys is located at Pyeongtaek, Camp Walker in Daegu and Camp Carroll at Waegwan, outside of Daegu.

Other candidate sites include Wonju in Gangwon Province and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province.

Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said during a media briefing, Monday, that an allies’ joint working-level group will conduct their review of candidate areas before deciding on a site after consideration of all related matters.

“The military utility of the USFK will be considered as the most important aspect because the THAAD will be operated by the USFK,” he said. “Allies will choose an optimal location from which the military can shoot down North Korean missiles.” [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Daegu area is the district for ruling party member Rep. Yoo Seong-min who has been a strong supporter for the deployment of THAAD to Korea.  Having strong political support in the region should help counter any Korean left wing attempt to stop the deployment.  It will be interesting to see how this turns out.