The U.S. plans to expedite the deployment of a missile defense shield in South Korea in response to North Korean provocations.
“Given the accelerated pace of North Korea’s missile tests, we intend to deploy on an accelerated basis. I would say as soon as possible,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel explained at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific hearing Tuesday.
The U.S. and South Korea plan to install a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in Seongju before the end of next year. Regular North Korean ballistic missile tests and a powerful nuclear test have led U.S. officials to consider an earlier deployment for the missile shield.
THAAD is a “done deal,” Russel said, reportedly telling Reuters last week that deployment is, at this point, non-negotiable.
During the hearing, Russel addressed Chinese concerns about THAAD. “This is a defensive measure aimed not at China, but at North Korea. It is a defense based decision, not a political decision. And it is part of a layered system of defense that will augment many military installations and systems currently in place,” he explained to the committee members.
North Korea is outspoken about U.S. and South Korean plans for the THAAD missile shield.
Pyongyang will take “more merciless and powerful successive corresponding measures against the US keen to ignite a war by deploying THAAD,” a North Korean military statement explained.
“There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for U.S. world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea,” the North Korean military said shortly after the U.S. and South Korea announced their plans to deploy THAAD. “It is the unwavering will of our army to deal a ruthless retaliatory strike and turn the South into a sea of fire and ashes.”
“If THAAD is deployed in South Korea, it will be exposed to nuclear strikes here and there as the primary target,” said a recent Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report.
North Korean claims, along with criticisms from China and Russia, resonated with many South Korean citizens, stirring opposition to the THAAD program. Had North Korea kept its head down, the THAAD program might have been deemed unnecessary and pushed aside.
Pyongyang couldn’t do that, though, and its behavior likely sealed the deal for the deployment of THAAD.
In addition to harshly worded statements promising aggression, Pyongyang has also been actively ramping up its military capabilities.
Since the U.S. announced that THAAD would be deployed next year, North Korea conducted five tests of at least ten ballistic missiles. The North also carried out its fifth and most powerful nuclear test earlier this month. Such actions reaffirm South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s commitment to installing the THAAD missile shield in South Korea.
Russel mentioned that he couldn’t comment on the exact timetable for the installation of THAAD in South Korea.
Pentagon spokesperson Commander Gary Ross said that THAAD would be set up in South Korea “as soon as feasible,” according to Reuters, but he did not give any specifics for the deployment.
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