In China, backlash growing over South Korea’s THAAD deployment

Posted on : 2016-08-04 17:37 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Media issuing strongly critical statements, while South Korean businesses having tougher time getting visas
An article and editorial critical of the South Korean government’s decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system
An article and editorial critical of the South Korean government’s decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system

The official Chinese Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily singled South Korean President Park Geun-hye out for criticism over the recent decision by Seoul and Washington to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

China was also confirmed to have taken action the same day to limit the issuance of business-related multiple visas for South Koreans, fanning fears that “Korea-bashing” in China over the THAAD issue could be passing an inflection point.

In a commentary published on Aug. 3, the People‘s Daily wrote that South Korea’s leader “cannot be unaware of the US’s strategic intentions [with THAAD], and surely already knows the truth about the THAAD system.”

“As several indications show, the policy-maker in Seoul is stubbornly insisting on tying her country’s security to the US’s THAAD system without asking for other opinions and seems unconcerned about destroying regional stability or needlessly harming the security interests of nearby powers [China and Russia],” the piece continued.

“In such a dangerous situation [on the Korean Peninsula], South Korea’s leader should be handling matters with the utmost caution and striving to avoid a penny-wise and pound-foolish approach that would plunge her country into a worst-possible case in which it becomes the first target of an attack,” the newspaper added.

The piece went on to cite findings from recent opinion polls in South Korea to show that Park’s support ratings “continue to drop, with 60.7% of respondents expressing a negative view on her handling of governance.”

Analysts suggested the People’s Daily commentary shows China is crossing a “final line” with the tenor of its objections to THAAD through various government-run media. Indeed, those media have played a major role in the part in sustaining widespread positive feelings toward Park in China under the Xi Jinping presidency.

“The People‘s Daily should be seen as representative of the opinions of the [Chinese Communist] Party and internal elite,” said Ajou University professor Kim Heung-kyu.

“This editorial needs to be read as China’s signal that it now plans to give up on its past expectations for Park [over the THAAD deployment],” Kim added.

The Xinhua News Agency also commented the same day that the “attitude of South Korea’s leader is disappointing.”

“If South Korea’s government and leader truly valued national security and the welfare and prosperity of their people, they would abandon the antagonistic attitude and Cold War thinking and maintain harmonious goodwill between neighbors,” it added.

Meanwhile, Beijing moved to revoke the status of a Chinese agency that had performed business-related multiple visa duties for South Koreans. With this action against the company that had previously issued invitations to South Koreans for multiple visas, South Korean companies must now receive invitations through Chinese partner businesses, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Aug. 3.

By Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent and Lee Je-hun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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