Beijing-Seoul crisis deepens over THAAD

Militaries of US and South Korea announced US missile launchers and some components of the controversial Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense System, or THAAD, arrived in South Korea, a step to deter belligerent North Korea. But the move has not only angered North Korea, which continues to pursue a broad range of nuclear missiles, including those fired from road mobile launchers or submarines, but also China and Russia.
Beijing and Moscow see the THAAD powerful radars as security threat. China said the system would allow US radar to peer deep into its territory and monitor its flights and missile launches. The Russians are also unhappy for similar reasons.
China said it will take necessary measures to protect itself and safeguard its territory and warned that the US and South Korea should be prepared to bear the consequences. Beijing officials said only US and South Korea will be responsible for all the consequences and called to stop the process of deployment and refrain from going further down that wrong path.
Beijing’s condemnation of THAAD has triggered protests in the country against South Korean retail giant Lotte, which agreed to provide one of its golf courses in southern South Korea as the system’s site. There are also reports about growing calls in China to boycott South Korean products. These developments are alarming for South Korea as China is the biggest trade partner of Seoul. South’s export-led economy has become increasingly dependent on Chinese demand for its industrial products and tourism assets.
The announcement of controversial missile system has ruffled feathers in South Korea also. THAAD will likely emerge as a major issue in South Korea’s next presidential election, which could take place soon if impeached President Park Geun-hye unseated over a corruption scandal. Some liberal presidential candidates have said the security benefits of having THAAD would be eclipsed by the worsened relations with neighbors, China and Russia. They have argued that government should reconsider THAAD. Also, the residents in a rural South Korean town where THAAD is planned to be established have furiously protested over rumoured health hazards they link to the system’s powerful radar.
But the Washington and Seoul have stressed that THAAD is defensive and not meant to be a threat to any country except North Korea. Seoul said that THAAD, which is to be deployed this year, is in response to the continued provocative actions by North Korea. The pariah state fired four ballistic missiles in an apparent protest against ongoing US-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. The missiles landed in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone.
The US military said that THAAD can intercept and destroy short and medium range ballistic missiles during the last part of their flights. Seoul maintains that THAAD would strengthen the country’s anti-missile capabilities, which currently rely on Patriot-based systems, and deter North Korea. There are those who say THAAD doesn’t address more immediate threats to the South. The missile system will not be able to defend South’s territory from North’s short-range missiles and artillery rockets that fly at lower altitudes and can hit Seoul and nearby cities.
China reactions to THAAD emanates from its failure to woo South Korea away from US. Further, Beijing sees Seoul just as a pawn to US military moves to contain Chinese influence. No matter what Beijing and South Korean politicians say, it’s unlikely that Seoul would ever back track on THAAD as it risks frustrating Washington, its most important strategic ally.