South Korea said on Thursday the issue of deployment of the U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) missile defense system in the country is not subject of negotiations, in a push back to China after Beijing demanded Seoul not deploy additional batteries and limit the use of the existing ones and claimed that previous Moon Jae-in administration agreed for it. The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol also said they will normalize operations of the missile defense base by end of August, adding that THAAD is a self-defensive defense tool aimed at protecting people’s lives and safety from North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and a matter of security and sovereignty. The THAAD unit was deployed to South Korea in the southern city of Seongju in 2017 despite fierce opposition from Beijing, which claims its radar could be used to target China. Yoon has pledged to finish the current THAAD system’s deployment and install another unit closer to Seoul.
This was a key topic of discussion during the meeting between the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in the Chinese port city of Qingdao on Tuesday. Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement on Wednesday said State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Park Jin expounded their respective positions on THAAD. The two sides underlined the need to take seriously each other’s security concerns and to strive to properly handle the issue so that it will not become a stumbling block to China-ROK relations, the Chinese statement said.
Seoul has denied Beijing’s claim that South Korea under previous Moon Jae-in administration had agreed to limit the operation of the THAAD battery in Seongju, in addition to sticking to the “Three No’s” principle of no additional THAAD deployments in South Korea, no participation in a U.S.-led missile defense network, and no involvement in a trilateral military alliance with the United States and Japan according to Yonhap news agency of South Korea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing on Wednesday in Beijing, “Based on the understanding between the two sides, China and the Republic Of Korea were able to properly handle the THAAD issue.”
“Our government clearly states that THAAD is a self-defensive defense tool aimed at protecting our people’s lives and safety from North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and a matter of security sovereignty that can never be subject to negotiation,” Yonhap reported. It said quoting officials that the presidential office received no material from the previous administration regarding this matter during the transition period.
The then government of President Moon Jae-in unveiled the “Three No’s” principle at the time, though it stopped short of calling it an agreement with Beijing, and kept the THAAD base on a temporary status pending an environmental impact assessment, according to Yonhap. The Moon administration made the announcement in 2017 as it aimed to resolve Chinese trade curbs imposed after the first missile-defense system was delivered as part of U.S.-led efforts to counter North Korea’s nuclear expansion.
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