- South Korean citizens watch a TV news program with a file footage about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) long-range missile launch, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Feb.7, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua/Seongbin Kang)
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.
Controversy over an environmental effect remained as the THAAD's radar emits super-strong microwaves doing harm to human bodies and paralyzing electronic devices.
COVERAGE BEYOND DPRK
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke out against possible THAAD deployment in South Korea at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday. He said it would complicate the regional stability situation.
"The deployment of the THAAD system by the United States...goes far beyond the defense needs of the Korean Peninsula and the coverage would mean it will reach deep into the Asian continent," Wang said on the sidelines of the Munich meeting.
Seoul's defense ministry has claimed that the THAAD is not targeting China or any other country except the DPRK, but its radar will help U.S. troops in South Korea naturally spot missiles in some regions of China and Russia bordering the DPRK.
