Allies’ security chiefs vow prompt THAAD deployment

The security chiefs of South Korea and the US on Wednesday vowed to accelerate bilateral efforts to station an advanced US missile defense system here, as the allies kicked off a joint annual military exercise designed to defend against North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations. 

During their first phone call, National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster reaffirmed the need to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here “without a setback,” for which Seoul struck a land swap deal with Lotte Group a day before.

“The sides shared the view that the alliance faces urgent security challenges including North Korea‘s nuclear and missile development, and pledged to respond strongly to any additional provocations from the North,” Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement. 

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his US counterpart James Mattis also had phone conversations, taking note of the land transfer for the THAAD battery. They agreed to complete the deployment “promptly,” highlighting its “sovereign and defensive” nature, Seoul‘s Defense Ministry said.

Through Tuesday’s accord, Lotte Group agreed to hand over a golf course in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, where the THAAD battery is to be stationed, in return for a military property in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. The allies are now expected to speed up the stationing process, including the land transfer to the US Forces Korea, an environmental inspection on the site and construction of related facilities.

“Secretary Mattis welcomed the official land transfer. ... (It) will support the alliance’s decision to station THAAD, a defensive weapons system, in the ROK (South Korea) as soon as feasible,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement.

The accelerating deployment work fanned speculation it may be completed as early as May, about two months earlier than initially planned. A cable news channel reported Tuesday that the defense chiefs agreed to move up the date to before South Korea holds a presidential election, though the ministry immediately denied the notion.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Wednesday once again denounced the military for pushing through with the deployment without parliamentary approval, as it has argued the decision should be reviewed by the next administration.

“I was shocked by the report the defense ministers had agreed to deploy THAAD before the presidential election,” party chairwoman Rep. Choo Mi-ae said at a party meeting later in the day. “We urge the government to take extreme caution about the matter as it concerns not only national economic security, but economic security,” she added, referring to China‘s escalating economic retaliation.

Meanwhile, the Foal Eagle field training drill began in its biggest-ever scale, with the participation of US strategic assets such as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and F-35b fighters, according to the Combined Forces Command in Seoul.

Scheduled to run through the end of next month, the military drill is intended to counter threats from North Korea, which recently successfully test-fired a new type of intermediate ballistic missile using the technology for submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

During their meeting in February, the ministers agreed to scale up their annual military exercises by dispatching more top-notch assets and other resources. Last year‘s exercise involved some 10,000 US soldiers, including USFK personnel and augmentees sent from elsewhere.

Tension is growing after Pyongyang’s state media said Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has recently instructed the People’s Army to conduct a show of force on April 25 to coincide with the anniversary of its founding and enhance combat readiness. The country has a history of staging provocations in time for its national holidays and major anniversaries.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)