hankyoreh

Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae (right) and Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo debate the THAAD issue at an emergency Q&A session on the THAAD issue at the National Assembly on July 19.

A lawmaker is claiming that despite Seoul’s official position to the contrary, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to be deployed to North Gyeongsang Province’s Seongju County will inevitably function as part of the US missile defense system targeting China and Russia.

Citing a 2015 missile defense report published by the US Congress‘s Government Accountability Office (GAO) and 2017 US government budget data, Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae said at an emergency Q&A session on the THAAD issue at the National Assembly on July 19 that the US Forces Korea THAAD system in Seongju would be “the 1.0 version.”

“Upgrading into the 2.0 version linked to all [US] missile defense assets is scheduled to be complete by 2025,” Kim claimed.

“Once this happens, the USFK THAAD on the Korean Peninsula will be just a terminal [in the US-run missile defense system],” he added.

According to data released by Kim, the US military has begun work on upgrading the current hardware-centered “version 1.0” of THAAD into a software-centered “version 2.0” linked to its global missile defense system, including Patriot missiles and Aegis. Once complete, THAAD systems around the world would be linked into and operated as a single missile defense system - in which USFK’s THAAD system in Seongju would also function as a component.

In response, Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo reiterated Seoul‘s standard position that the THAAD system on the Korean Peninsula would be intended as a deterrent against North Korea with no connection to US missile defense.

“THAAD is one of many missile defense systems the US operates,” Han said.

“Calling [the THAAD system in Seongju] part of the US’s global missile defense would be going too far,” he added.

“Generally speaking, ‘missile defense participation’ entails the signing of a memorandum of understanding between countries and the full [sharing] of missile production, deployment, operation, and education exercises, and we have no plans to do that,” Han continued.

In a subsequent telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, Kim said, “Based on the US report, the USFK THAAD [system] in Seongju will inevitably be linked to the US’s control center and integrated into a single system with the THAAD used to defense the continental US.”

“That’s why China and Russia are so heavily opposed to the THAAD deployment in Seongju,” Kim explained.

By Ha Eo-young, staff reporter

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