Intercepting potential Chinese missile attacks over the East China
Sea is one of the capabilities the US would gain if it successfully
deploys its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System to South Korea,
according to the party mouthpiece Global Times.
The defense system, also known as THAAD, is an air missile designed
by Lockheed Martin as part of the US Theater Missile Defense system in
the Asia-Pacific Region. With the help of the AN/TPY-2 X-band radar, the
THAAD is able to detect and intercept ballistic missiles launched more
than 1,000km away. Its range would extend over the East China Sea and
could be used to intercept missiles from China.
Last year, the United States tried to convince South Korea to join
the Theater Missile Defense system through allowing the deployment of
the X-band radar to the island of Baengnyeongdo, which sits on the
border between the North and South Korea.
The idea was turned down by South Korea's defense minister Kim
Kwan-jin over concerns that the deployment would irritate Beijing and
lead it to believe that the country was trying to contain China in an
alliance with Japan and the US, according to the Seoul Shinmun.
The range of the air defense system fars exceeds North Korean
territory, leading professor Kim Hung-gyu from Seoul's Sungshin Womens
University to believe the US is trying to provoke South Korea into
conflict with Beijing. This would make South Korea a pawn in a US-Japan
crusade against China, according to Kim.
