Tag: THAAD

The Chinese government is upset about the talks between the US and South Korea to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the ROK and their complaints when looked at objectively pretty much justifies the deployment of THAAD to Korea:

China summoned South Korean Ambassador Kim Jang-soo to protest against Seoul and Washington’s agreement to begin talks on deploying a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea..

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin called in the ambassador Sunday to protest.

It is the first time the Chinese government has called in Kim, a former defense minister, who assumed the post last March.

Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry had expressed “deep concern,” about the THAAD discussions.

Hours after the North Korean rocket launch Sunday, South Korea and the U.S. said they would begin talks on deploying the THAAD battery. The launch is widely viewed as a covert ballistic missile test to develop delivery vehicles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

“China’s position on the issue of anti-missile is consistent and clear,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a faxed statement, Yonhap News Agency reported. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but here is the part of their complaint when looked at objectively pretty much justifies deploying THAAD to Korea:

“Countries, when pursuing their own security, should take into account others’ security interests as well as regional peace and stability.”

The Chinese should heed their own advice because their actions to allow the Kim regime to continuously destabilize regional security and threaten the security interests of South Korea is why THAAD looks like it will be deployed to Korea in the first place.

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/696230957771173888

Like I have been saying for months, official talks to deploy THAAD to Korea would probably happen once the ROK government had the political cover of a North Korean provocation which the latest rocket launch has given them:

South Korea and the United States have agreed to begin negotiations for the deployment of an advanced American air defense system on South Korean soil, officials said Sunday, despite opposition from China and Russia.

The announcement on the controversial defense system, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, was given just hours after North Korea launched a long-range missile as part of the continual push of its intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

“The U.S. and South Korea have decided to start official discussion on the possibility of U.S. Forces Korea’s deployment of THAAD as part of measures to upgrade the South Korea-U.S. alliance’s missile defense posture against North Korea’s advancing threats,” Yoo Jeh-seung, deputy minister for policy, said in a joint briefing with Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, the commander of USFK’s Eighth Army.

Vandal said the decision was made upon USFK Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti’s recommendation, adding that “it is time to move forward on the issue.”  [Yonhap]

This week the ROK Defense Minister stated for the first time openly that South Korea should consider the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system:

Defense Minister Han Min-koo has echoed the need to consider the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) battery to the Korean Peninsula.

Appearing on a local television program late Monday, Han said that the deployment of THAAD to South Korea must be reviewed from a national security angle.

This is the first time that Han has openly debated over the missile interception system, fueling speculation that South Korea and the U.S. could open talks over the deployment in the coming weeks.  [KBS World Radio]

Here is how the Chinese responded this week to the increased speculation of Seoul considering the deployment of THAAD to Korea:

In an editorial Wednesday, Chinese state-media, the Global Times, claimed that the deployment of THAAD to the Korean Peninsula would hurt trust between Seoul and Beijing.

If anything is hurting trust between the two countries it is the Chinese allowing the Kim regime to continuously threaten South Korea with nuclear weapons, missiles and other deadly provocations with no consequences from Beijing.  The Chinese could build trust and likely stop the deployment of THAAD if they implemented the sanctions the US has been asking for in response to North Korea’s continuous provocations.

WSJ's story: "Behind the scenes it looks like Thaad is close to a done deal."@AlastairGale https://t.co/i4JQCz9OOn pic.twitter.com/GFY9GIWIDO

— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) January 30, 2016

If the North Koreans move forward their rocket test this would give Seoul additional political cover to move forward with the deployment of THAAD to Korea which the Chinese have been against.  If seems that if the Chinese are so concerned about the deployment of THAAD they should do more to control their North Korean allies:

Deployment of the United States’ advanced missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea will be helpful in defending the country from North Korean threats, but the country has no plans to announce any decision on the matter in the near future, a defense official said Friday.

“Our government will consider every measure to prepare against North Korea’s missile threats,” the Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

“If U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD, it will help our national security and defense,” Kim said.

The official government stance signals the U.S. move to deploy the THAAD system inside the USFK is gaining momentum in South Korea.

It also marks a step forward from the country’s more cautious stance in the past that South Korea will weigh the THAAD issue in accordance with national security interests.

Earlier in the day, the U.S.-based Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. could announce next week or so that the two countries are in negotiations over the THAAD system.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

The CSIS report favors deploying the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea.  I think it is pretty clear that there is no debate left on the military utility of deploying the THAAD system to Korea, it is strictly a political issue at this point:

A Congress-commissioned study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has recommended deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) anti-ballistic missile system in South Korea in light of the growing missile threat from Pyongyang.

The Thaad system provides a “valuable capability” for South Korea, the Washington-based think tank said in its January report reviewing U.S. defense strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.

However, it added, “Chinese demarches have made the potential U.S. deployment of Thaad on the Korean Peninsula a sensitive issue for Seoul, despite the fact that South Korea has no area defense capabilities against North Korean ballistic missiles.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read much more at the link.

Below is the latest on the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea.  I have always said that it would take a major crisis for the ROK to have political cover to deploy this system on the peninsula.  From the ROK perspective this strategy make sense because it gives them leverage with China to keep North Korea in line if they don’t want THAAD in South Korea:

Placement of a U.S. mobile missile defense system in South Korea remains unlikely in the near term despite continued concern about North Korea’s nuclear program, analysts and government officials say.

Top U.S. military officials want the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, ready to deploy in the Asia-Pacific region on a permanent basis — and its bases in South Korea are ideally where they need to be to counter a possible North Korean offensive.

Last year, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said the Pentagon had conducted site surveys for THAAD within South Korea. However, what makes sense from a military tactical standpoint doesn’t always correspond with how leaders view the strategic and diplomatic consequences.

When rumors spread in March of a deal to deploy THAAD to South Korea in an emergency, China decried the possibility as a threat to its security, with Russia voicing opposition as well.

That left South Korea uncomfortably positioned in a dispute pitting China and Russia on one side and the United States and Japan on the other, said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul.

The result was that despite discussions between President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye earlier this year, along with high-level ministerial talks between both nations, neither side has confirmed ever having had formal talks about THAAD.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

If any of you ROK Heads living in Korea feel the need to purchase your very own THAAD missile defense system to put in your backyard to protect you from Kim Jong-un’s missiles, it would set you back only $2.5 billion:

Deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean Peninsula would cost around US$2.5 billion, the Air Force Chief of Staff said on Sept. 22.A propeller from the 1,800-ton top-of-the-line submarine Ahn Jung-geun was also reportedly replaced five years after its introduction because of 151 cracks found on it.Newly appointed Air Force Chief of Staff Jeong Kyeong-doo responded to questions on the cost of THAAD deployment from New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) lawmaker Kim Kwang-jin during a National Assembly National Defense Committee parliamentary audit on Sept. 22 at Air Force headquarters at Gyeryongdae, South Chungcheong Province.“It would be around plus or minus three trillion won (US$2.53 billion), although nothing precise has been given yet,” Jeong said.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link, but I think the ROK Air Force chief is just setting conditions on why the US military should provide the system for the ROK instead of purchasing it out right.

The new ROK Air Force Chief of Staff is pretty much continuing the ROK military’s stance which of being cautious about the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea:

Newly appointed Air Force Chief of Staff Jeong Kyeong-doo took a cautious stance on the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.

During the parliamentary defense committee’s audit of the Air Force Headquarters on Tuesday, Jeong said that there are pros and cons about deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.

He made the remarks when ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min asked if he approves the US Forces Korea’s deployment of the THAAD battery.

The Air Force chief of staff said basic conditions should be satisfied to deploy the missile system. He said that the system will be effective only when South Korea and the United States establish an integrated intelligence system, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to identify and intercept missiles from North Korea immediately.   [KBS World Radio]

You can read the rest at the link.