South Korea Demands Answers

It seems as if every day there is a new development coming from the Korean Peninsula. Whether that means the North Koreans are testing another missile or the South Koreans are planning to sternly reprimand their neighbor something new is constantly occurring. Today though, there was a very different kind of new development.

To keep an eye on North Korea and have the ability to respond quickly in case of an emergency, the United States operates 15 military bases in South Korea. Since the main threat that North Korea poses is a missile strike against the United States and even their neighboring countries, the United States has created a very strong missile-defense system composed of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, also known as Thaads.

These Thaad systems are typically composed of six launchers, but back in April, the United States only installed two into the city of Seongju, South Korea. To fix this issue, the United States has sent four more Thaads to the base this past Tuesday.

This may seem as though it was a very easy option for both parties involved, but these antimissile systems have been the source of many disagreements within the South Korean government. Many in South Korea believe that these missiles actually make the peninsula more tense because it is showing a direct response to the threat that North Korea poses. One wrong move by the South Koreans could set off a response from the unstable North Korean government.

This most recent deployment of Thaad systems came without the permission or even informing the South Korean government. The South Koreans recently had an election to replace the impeached President Park Geun-Hye.

President Moon has always had many suspicions about these missile systems. To address these suspicions, he was hoping that the South Korean parliament would gather to review whether these systems were necessary. With the United States working with the administration of President Park Geun-Hye, these systems were installed as “fait accompli,” meaning that they would be installed regardless of what the current administration says or does This is a fair judgment since the United States was trying to install the missiles under the previous administration who fully supported their installation.

It is very likely that had he known that these systems were being brought into the nation that he would have been okay with their installation, but he had no prior knowledge of deployment. Now, South Korea will be investigating how the missiles were brought into the country and made public before the administration knew anything about them.

Not only do these missiles make the relations between North and South Korea worse, but it also inadvertently drags the peaceful nation of South Korea into a Cold War-like power struggle, except this time it is between the United States and China. This theory was made to seem more like the truth after Trump demanded that the South Koreans pay $1 billion for these four new systems. This has hurt the South Korean economy since the Chinese government has boycotted the sales of all goods from South Korean companies.

To try and stifle the increase in bad relations, President Moon has called for the beginning of discussions with North Korea since the sanctions have seemed ineffective, but after the most recent missile launch, the current administration is beginning to rethink their strategy. There are in a position of much greater danger since, although unconfirmed, the North Koreans may be capable of quicker launch times, and new guidance systems for both long and short range missiles.

Not only are the North Koreans capabilities threatening the South Koreans, but so are their words which are beginning to sound more like threats. Just this past week Kim Jong Un released a statement saying, “Whenever news of our recent valuable victory is broadcast, the Yankees would be very much worried and the gangsters of the South Korean puppet army would get dispirited more and more.”

With the United States putting in new counterattacking devices and carrying out military exercises in the region, the North Koreans believe they are at risk. It is only a matter of time until they act on one of these false perceptions.