US moves to check Pyongyang
PLAYING WITH FIRE THAAD missile defence deployment angers Russia and China, who view it as a security threat
WASHINGTON: US missile launchers and other equipment needed to set up a controversial missile defense system have arrived in South Korea, the US and South Korean militaries said on Tuesday, a day after North Korea testlaunched four ballistic missiles into the ocean near Japan.
The plans to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) have angered not only North Korea, but also China and Russia, which see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.
Washington and Seoul say the system is defensive and not meant to be a threat. The US military said in a statement that THAAD can intercept and destroy short and medium range ballistic missiles during the last part of their flights.
“Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea,” Adm. Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, said. Some South Korean liberal presidential candidates have said that the security benefits of having THAAD would be curtailed by worsened relations with neighbours China and Russia.
China’s condemnation of South Korean plans to deploy THAAD has triggered protests against South Korean retail giant Lotte, which agreed to provide one of its golf courses as the site of THAAD. Seoul also raised worries about a reported ban on Chinese tour groups visiting the country.
On Tuesday, China’s Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily, criticised North Korea over the missiles.
“By firing four missiles at once this time, the military confrontation between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington escalates a notch,” the paper said. “Noticeably, the Chinese public is angry that Pyongyang’s nuclear program has provided an excuse for Seoul to deploy THAAD.”
An official from South Korea’s defence ministry said that the equipment that arrived in South Korea included launchers, but didn’t confirm how many.
While South Korea’s media speculate that the THAAD deployment could be completed by as early as April, the ministry official couldn’t confirm those reports. The official said that the plan was to have the system operational as soon as possible.