South Korea has been divided over whether to deploy a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in its territory on worries about the expected escalation of regional tensions and an unproven plausibility of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), both militarily and environmentally.
The official announcement of South Korea and the United States to begin talks about the THAAD deployment came just hours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s launch of a long-range rocket on Feb. 7.
The rocket launch, which Pyongyang claimed was part of a peaceful space program, but which Seoul and Washington denounced as a test of banned ballistic missile technology, followed the DPRK's fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, the first of its disputed H-bomb test.
Calling Pyongyang's repeated rocket launches and nuclear tests as a serious threat of weapons of mass destruction in the region, Seoul's defense ministry said the THAAD deployment would be focused solely on defending South Korea against mounting nuclear and missile threats from the DPRK.
Opponents, especially opposition lawmakers in South Korea, said the deployment to escalate regional tensions as China and Russia expressed oppositions to the THAAD since its radar can help U.S. forces locate missiles in a broader range of the Asian continent beyond the DPRK.
Experts opposing the THAAD were skeptical about its operational effectiveness in South Korea as it is one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world but falls short of shielding the country from hundreds of shorter-range DPRK missiles that can fall on the entire South Korea in several minutes.
Xinhua -china.org.cn
15/2/16
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