US begins deploying missile defence system in South Korea

International Desk: Increasingly concerned about the threats from North Korea’s provocative behaviour, the United States said on Tuesday that it had started to deploy an anti-missile system in South Korea that China has angrily opposed as a threat to its security.

The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System, or Thaad, came after North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday apparently in response to joint naval exercises by South Korea and the United States. Those launches led South Korea to call for the accelerated deployment of Thaad.

“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,” Admiral Harry Harris, the US Pacific commander, said in a statement.

“We will resolutely honour our alliance commitments to South Korea and stand ready to defend ourselves, the American homeland and our allies.”

China has been particularly incensed over the deployment of the system, which it regards as an intrusion that could compromise its military capabilities.

Recently, Chinese media urged people to boycott South Korean products and companies. Other commentators have advocated additional stern measures, including severing diplomatic relations.

A retired general, Luo Yuan, even suggested that China destroy the system with a military strike. “We could conduct a surgical hard-kill operation that would destroy the target, paralysing it and making it unable to hit back,” Luo wrote in The Global Times, a state-run newspaper.

The deployment of the anti-missile system begins as South Korea is embroiled in turmoil over the impeachment of President Park Geun Hye, who had been a supporter of deploying Thaad.

But with the president facing possible removal from office, the fate of the system had been in doubt, and its early deployment could make it harder for her successor to head off its installation.

Last year, thousands of people in Seongju, a rural county in the south, protested when it was announced that a Thaad battery would be established there. They said they feared that the system would harm their agricultural livelihood.

Many South Koreans also worry that any expansion of military ties with the United States could worsen tensions with both the North and China.

Under its deal with Washington, South Korea will provide land and build the base, but the US will pay for the missile system, to be built by Lockheed Martin, as well as its operational costs.

The US military statement said that “the first elements” of Thaad were deployed on Monday, the same day as the North’s missile launches.

Agencies

risingbd/DHAKA/Mar 7, 2017/Amirul