The United States military started installing a controversial anti-missile defense system in South Korea overnight Tuesday, triggering protests and sparking criticism that it was rushing to get the battery in place before the likely election of a president who opposes it.
The sudden and unannounced move came only six days after U.S. Forces Korea secured the land to deploy the system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.
Moon Jae-in, a liberal candidate who has a strong lead in the polls ahead of the May 9 presidential election, has promised to review South Koreas decision to host the anti-missile battery.
Theres a sense in Seoul that THAAD deployment has been rushed based on the timetable of South Koreas presidential election, rather than North Koreas threats, said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.
To some extent, the acceleration of THAAD deployment has worked, limiting the next South Korean leaders room for maneuver, Delury said. But theres the danger of a backlash among the South Korean public feeling like a pawn in the game of America First. 
U.S. Forces Korea did not make any statement about the deployment and did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why the installation was started in the dead of night.
But South Koreas Ministry of National Defense said that South Korea and the United States had been working to secure the swift operational capability of the THAAD system against North Koreas nuclear and missile threat.
South Koreas military plans to secure full capability of the THAAD system operation within the year, the ministry said in a statement.
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Wednesdays moves to install the battery come at a particularly tense time on the peninsula, with the United States moving warships to the region and warning that all options are on the table, while North Korea is vowing to counter any American strike and conducting large-scale military drills Tuesday.
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The deployment of THAAD in South Korea will destroy the strategic balance in the region and bring about a further increase in tensions, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for Chinas Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing Wednesday. The Chinese side strongly urges the U.S. and South Korea to cancel the deployment and withdraw the equipment.
and some more at https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...a-11e7-86b7-5d31b5fdc114_story.html?tid=ss_tw
The sudden and unannounced move came only six days after U.S. Forces Korea secured the land to deploy the system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.
Moon Jae-in, a liberal candidate who has a strong lead in the polls ahead of the May 9 presidential election, has promised to review South Koreas decision to host the anti-missile battery.
Theres a sense in Seoul that THAAD deployment has been rushed based on the timetable of South Koreas presidential election, rather than North Koreas threats, said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.
To some extent, the acceleration of THAAD deployment has worked, limiting the next South Korean leaders room for maneuver, Delury said. But theres the danger of a backlash among the South Korean public feeling like a pawn in the game of America First. 
U.S. Forces Korea did not make any statement about the deployment and did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why the installation was started in the dead of night.
But South Koreas Ministry of National Defense said that South Korea and the United States had been working to secure the swift operational capability of the THAAD system against North Koreas nuclear and missile threat.
South Koreas military plans to secure full capability of the THAAD system operation within the year, the ministry said in a statement.
....
Wednesdays moves to install the battery come at a particularly tense time on the peninsula, with the United States moving warships to the region and warning that all options are on the table, while North Korea is vowing to counter any American strike and conducting large-scale military drills Tuesday.
....
The deployment of THAAD in South Korea will destroy the strategic balance in the region and bring about a further increase in tensions, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for Chinas Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing Wednesday. The Chinese side strongly urges the U.S. and South Korea to cancel the deployment and withdraw the equipment.
and some more at https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...a-11e7-86b7-5d31b5fdc114_story.html?tid=ss_tw
