Seoul, South Korea. American missiles are now active in South Korea, supposedly to protect the Korean people, but many are against them, refuse to pay for them and China views their presence as a provocation.
The US anti-missile system in South Korea is now operating and can defend against North Korean missiles, Seoul says. The Terminal High Altitude Defence (Thaad) system set up at a converted golf course in Seongju, in the country’s south-east, has “early capability” to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said.
The deployment has triggered anger from Seongju residents who fear North Korea may target their town and worry about rumoured health hazards linked to Thaad’s powerful radar.
Local residents also debate whether the security benefits of Thaad would outweigh drawbacks if relations worsen with China, which sees the system as a threat, and have been angered by US president Donald Trump’s statement that he would make South Korea pay one billion dollars for the system they never asked for.
The United States authorities say Thaad is crucial to counter North Korea’s weapons advances. The North Korean’s conducted two nuclear tests last year alone, which experts say have improved its knowledge for making nuclear warheads small enough to fit on missiles.
North Korea has been speeding up its development of new missiles, including solid-fuel rockets that can be fired from mobile launchers on land and from submarines. President Trump says he is not ruling out military action against North Korea.
The American President also expressed openness to a future meeting with its ruler Kim Jong Un, offering unusual praise for the third-generation dictator amid the nuclear tensions. “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honoured to do it,” Trump went on to say Kim was obviously a “pretty smart cookie” as he took power in his 20s and held it despite “a lot of people” trying to take it away.
South Korean critics question whether the United States and Seoul’s caretaker government are rushing to set up Thaad before an election on May 9 that will bring a change in the government which became necessary after Park Geun-hye and her lesbian partner were arrested in a corruption scandal.
The leading replacement candidate Moon Jae-in, is a liberal who calls for engagement with North Korea, has said he would ask the Americans to remove the missile system if he became president.