hankyoreh

A still from a Yonhap News TV broadcast running comments Brooks made about additional THAAD deployment in an interview with Radio Free Asia in November 2020. (still from Yonhap News TV)

Following debate by presidential candidates over whether a former US Forces Korea commander said that an additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system does not need to be deployed in South Korea, the reporter who originally interviewed the commander in question said Sunday that former USFK Commander Vincent Brooks indeed said at the time that an additional THAAD battery was “not necessary in South Korea.”

Radio Free Asia reporter Lee Sang-min, who wrote the article that quoted Brooks in November of 2020, responded to the Hankyoreh’s email asking for a fact check, writing that former Commander Brooks said he thought an additional THAAD deployment is not necessary in South Korea because the existing THAAD battery in the country can be integrated with other missile defense systems to protect South Korea from the threat of North Korean missiles.

Because the decision for a THAAD deployment and its actual installment took place during his tenure (April 2016 to November 2018), Brooks is arguably one of the people most knowledgeable about the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea.

A test launch of the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system, which it deployed to South Korea in 2016. (US Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency)

Democratic Party presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol continued their argument from Feb. 3 over whether Brooks said an additional THAAD deployment is not necessary in South Korea during a second presidential debate on Friday.

At the debate, Lee asked Yoon, “In regard to THAAD, former Commander Brooks said [an additional THAAD battery is not necessary in South Korea], but you said during the last debate that he never said so. Do you admit that you were wrong?”

Yoon countered, “What candidate Lee is saying is nonsense that’s not based on facts at all. How could he have said such a thing? What former Commander Brooks said is that the THAAD battery in Seongju should be used in combination with low altitude missile defense systems. He didn’t mention anything about an additional THAAD deployment.”

Previously, Radio Free Asia reported in Korean on Nov. 2, 2020, that during an interview, Brooks argued that an additional THAAD battery is not necessary in South Korea because the existing THAAD battery in the country can be integrated with the Patriot missile defense systems to protect South Korea from the threat of North Korean missiles.

The article did not contain the actual recording of Brooks’ statement, which was indirectly quoted in the report. For this reason, Yoon and People Power Party have claimed that Brooks never mentioned anything about an additional THAAD deployment in South Korea not being necessary. However, the reporter who wrote the article in question said the following regarding what happened at the time of his report.

The reporter wrote: “In regard to your inquiry, I interviewed former Commander Brooks over the phone and recorded his statement at the time. However, I deleted the recording after writing my article, and a transcript of the interview is not available. Still, as I wrote in my article, former Commander Brooks said during the interview that an additional THAAD deployment is not necessary in South Korea, and that he thought so because the existing THAAD battery in the country can be integrated with other missile defense systems to protect South Korea from the threat of North Korean missiles.”

Lee continued, “When I wrote about this in my article, I indirectly quoted former Commander Brooks’ mention of there being no need for an additional THAAD battery in South Korea as a sentence, and as for his reasoning, I provided an excerpt of his actual words via recording.”

Considering the explanation provided by the reporter who actually interviewed Brooks and wrote the article in question based on Brooks’ statement, Yoon’s claim that Brooks never mentioned anything about an additional THAAD battery in South Korea being unnecessary seems unconvincing.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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