During Final ROK Presidential Debate Candidates Clash on US-ROK Alliance, China, Nuclear Weapons, and THAAD

Really nothing new came out of this final debate, each candidate hammered the same talking points that those who follow ROK politics already know:

From left, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Kwon Young-kook of the Democratic Labor Party, Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party and Lee Jun-seok of the minor New Reform Party pose for a photo ahead of their third and final debate on May 27 at the MBC studio in Mapo District, western Seoul. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Lee also said it is important not to “ignore the relationship with China and Russia,” calling to “appropriately manage” these ties. He said “there is no need to unnecessarily antagonize” these relationships, underscoring that “peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is very important.”   
  
Kim in turn said that North Korean leader “Kim Jong-un’s dictatorship threatens our lives and property with its nuclear weapons and missile provocations.” He warned that within South Korea “there are forces advocating for the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed and the dismantling of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, shaking the foundation of our nation. 
  
He raised Lee’s alleged links to illegal remittances to the North during his time as Gyeonggi governor and called to “create a transparent and dignified inter-Korean relationship.” Kim further pledged to “strengthen nuclear deterrence based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance.”  

Joong Ang Ilbo

Basically Lee Jae-myung wants better relations with China, Russia, and North Korea without going into detail on what concessions he plans to give to do this. Kim Moon-soo on the other hand wants to focus on deterrence. Part of that deterrence is bringing tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea which Lee disagrees with:

When asked by DP’s Lee on his stance on South Korea’s nuclear armament, PPP’s Kim replied, “Rather than arming ourselves with nuclear weapons, we should achieve a nuclear balance,” stressing it should be done so “carefully within the scope of maintaining the Korea-U.S. alliance.” 
  
Lee accused the former labor minister of being wishy-washy, and Kim clarified that if nuclear armament comes at the cost of the Seoul-Washington alliance, “then arming ourselves with nuclear weapons will be ineffective.” 
  
Lee questioned Kim on his position supporting redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea.   
  
“If we redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, we can’t demand North Korea’s denuclearization,” Lee said. He noted that there is speculation that the United States placed South Korea on its “sensitive and other designated countries list (SCL)” because of suspicions of Seoul’s nuclear armament intentions.  

How long must this fiction of North Korean denuclearization go on? There is no way Kim Jong-un will ever denuclearize. That possibly vanished a decade plus ago. North Korea’s nuclear weapons can now at best be managed not eliminated with negotiations. Here is what was discussed about the THAAD missile defense system located outside of Seongju:

The two Lees in turn clashed over the deployment of the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile system to South Korea. 
  
Lee Jun-seok noted Lee Jae-myung had previously claimed that “Thaad deployment is for U.S. defense,” arguing that the DP candidate misunderstands the weapons system and echoed arguments typically raised by China. 
  
Lee Jae-myung replied, “South Korea’s defense should be based on its own independent missile defense system.” But he said that since the Thaad system has been deployed despite much controversy, further debate is unhelpful to Seoul’s diplomatic and security strategy.

Lee Jae-myung has made it clear in the past that he does not support THAAD in part because he believes it antagonizes China. China has long made false claims that THAAD was deployed to spy on them instead of to better protect South Korea from North Korean ballistic missiles.

As far as developing an independent missile defense system this is something the ROK has been trying to develop for many years. The US would likely support ROK efforts to improve domestic missile defense in order to take pressure off US air defenses which are in heavy demand around the world to include having to deploy a Patriot battalion off the peninsula to support world-wide defense obligations.