Korea begins THAAD deployment: military

[Disir]

In a surprise move, South Korea and the United States began deploying the highly controversial anti-missile system here, just hours after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles that it said were aimed at US bases in Japan.

The allies confirmed Tuesday that two launchers of the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system arrived in South Korea’s Osan Air Base late Monday via the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.

They are the first batch of the missile defense system designed to enhance the allies’ capabilities in countering North Korea’s growing missile threats. The deployment will be completed as early as next month, Seoul officials said.

“Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea,” US Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris said in a statement.

Following the announcement, Beijing voiced its strong opposition to THAAD, warning Seoul and Washington will pay “consequences” for deploying the platform that would undermine its national security.

“We strongly oppose the decision to deploy THAAD and will take necessary steps to defend our security interest,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said. “South Korea and the US will bear the consequences. ... We urge them not to go further down that wrong path.”
Korea begins THAAD deployment: military

And let the games begin.

 

[waltky]

South Korean President Moon havin' second thoughts on THAAD...

South Korean President Calls for THAAD Deployment to Be Suspended
7 Jun 2017 | The further deployment of a controversial U.S. anti-missile battery should be suspended pending an environmental impact assessment that could take more than a year, South Korean President Moon Jae-in's office said Wednesday. Concerns about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system are a key issue threatening to put the new South Korean administration at odds with its longstanding U.S. ally.

The presidency stressed it wasn't calling for the withdrawal of two launchers and other equipment already positioned on a designated site in a remote southeastern area. "But those that have yet to be deployed will have to wait," a senior administration official told reporters, according to the Yonhap news agency. The launchers and radar for THAAD were deployed in the Seongju area in an overnight operation that critics said was aimed at getting it into place before May 9 snap elections that ushered Moon into office. The government also has launched an investigation into whether the country's defense ministry kept secret the delivery of four additional launchers and sought to make the program appear smaller to legally avoid an all-out environmental impact evaluation.

The official with the Blue House, as the president's office is known, was quoted as saying the additional four will have to wait to be deployed in Seongju until the environmental impact evaluation is completed. The official acknowledged the assessment could take more than a year. Most of the criticism has focused on South Korea's defense ministry, and Moon has sought to reassure U.S. Forces Korea of his commitment to the alliance between the countries. The United States has about 28,500 servicemembers stationed in South Korea. USFK's public affairs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Wednesday's comments. But the Pentagon has insisted that the U.S. has been "completely transparent" in plans for THAAD's deployment. Washington and Seoul agreed last year to bring THAAD to the divided peninsula to counter the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea.

The first elements of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system arrived in the Republic of Korea​

U.S. military officials are eager to get THAAD into place and operational as Pyongyang has stepped up the pace of its missile-testing program. But many Seongju residents and other South Koreans opposed the decision, which was made by ex-President Park Geun-hye's administration. They fear negative economic and environmental effects, and many say the system is primarily meant to protect U.S. forces in southern areas since its reach would not cover the bulk of the population in Seoul. Critics also suspect the North Koreans would be able to overwhelm the system with a massive barrage. China fears THAAD's powerful radar could be used against its military, despite insistence by U.S. and South Korean military officials that it is solely aimed at the North. Military officials counter that THAAD is meant to work as part of a layered defense system that includes Patriot missiles already in place to protect the capital.

Gen. Vincent Brooks, who commands USFK, defended the system in a speech at a security forum last month, saying its deployment provides an unprecedented area defense against missiles from the North. "This is all about North Korean missiles and the threat that North Korean missiles pose to (South Korea), and it's for the defense of (South Korea) and nothing else," he was quoted as saying. Moon was elected about two months after Park was ousted and jailed over an influence-peddling and corruption scandal. As a candidate, he never specifically opposed THAAD but said its deployment should be reviewed by the new administration. His liberal administration already has moved to adopt a more moderate approach toward North Korea, calling for dialogue and approving contacts with the North in addition to punishing economic sanctions.

South Korean President Calls for THAAD Deployment to Be Suspended | Military.com

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US Lawmaker Chastises South Korea for Suspending THAAD
June 8, 2017 - A U.S. senator blasted the South Korean government’s delay in accepting a missile-defense system and questioned Army leaders why the vulnerable Pacific country would have second thoughts about the nearly $1 billion American investment.

“Something that I thought was agreed to over a period of two years is now going to be actively debated in the assembly of South Korea to determine whether or not they will accept our expenditure of $923 million for a missile defense system,” Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, said Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing. Durbin’s comments came the same day South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office called for the suspension of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system pending an environmental impact assessment that could take more than a year. “This THAAD missile defense system for medium-range missiles seems so obvious to me for the people living in South Korea to protect them and to protect our forces … I am troubled by the fact that it is now going to be resubmitted for political debate in the Republic of Korea,” Durbin said.

He asked both Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley for their insight on the issue and if the South Korean government has shown any change of attitude toward its relationship with the United States. Speer said he had not spoken to South Korean leaders, but said he believes “the relationship is going well,” and that two THAAD batteries are “up and operational.” The South Korean presidency stressed it wasn’t calling for the withdrawal of two launchers and other equipment already positioned on a designated site in a remote southeastern area. The launchers and radar for THAAD were deployed in the Seongju area in an overnight operation that critics said was aimed at getting it into place before May 9 snap elections that ushered Moon into office. The government also has launched an investigation into whether the country’s defense ministry kept secret the delivery of four additional launchers and sought to make the program appear smaller to legally avoid an all-out environmental impact evaluation.

U.S. Army soldiers install their missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, at a golf course in Seongju, South Korea​

Milley told Durbin that he regularly interacts with his counterpart in South Korea and assured him that “we will work through that. As I understand the issue … it has to do with environmental concerns and the placement” of the system. “The THAAD is essential to protect U.S. forces in Korea but also South Korea as a whole,” he said. Durbin said the point raised by the South Korean president “was two-fold — environmental and the second one what he called due process, namely that his assembly would need to debate whether or not to go forward with this missile-defense system.” Meanwhile, North Korea fired several suspected short-range anti-ship missiles Thursday, South Korea’s military said, in a continuation of defiant launches as it seeks to build a nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental United States.

The projectiles were fired from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan and likely flew about 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) while reaching a maximum altitude of about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where the U.S. aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan participated in joint exercises with the South Korean navy that ended earlier this week. “I can’t follow their logic here,” Durbin said. “I would think, if I lived in the Republic of Korea, I would want every missile defense system available.”

US Lawmaker Chastises South Korea for Suspending THAAD - Defensetech

 

[Bleipriester]

Putin says the anti-missile system is about Russia.