Culture: ‘Red money’ from China flowing into Korea's content industry-INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily https://t.co/qK12gGZThF
— The Korea JoongAng Daily (@JoongAngDaily) February 11, 2016
The deployment of THAAD has nothing to do with the radar being able to look into China, but more to do with trying to create a wedge between the US and the ROK according to analysts:
Analysts say China’s leadership is reluctant to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea because a sudden collapse of the regime could spark a refugee crisis at its border and lead to a pro-U.S., democratic Korea on its doorstep.
Kim Heung-kyu, head of the China Policy Institute at South Korea’s Ajou University, said relations between South Korea and China face a test because Beijing views the THAAD battery as a way of strengthening the alliance with Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.
“China does not regard the THAAD system as an issue of missile or radar, but a ‘regional alliance’ among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan,” Kim said. South Korean and U.S. officials made it clear that the THAAD battery, if deployed, “would be focused solely on North Korea.”
Still, there is a risk that the deployment of the THAAD battery in South Korea could make it difficult for Seoul to seek Beijing’s cooperation against Pyongyang, Kim said.
“With regard to the denuclearization of North Korea, I am not positive about whether the THAAD system is a useful option or not,” Kim said. [Korea Herald]
You can read more at the link.
The Chinese government is upset about the talks between the US and South Korea to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the ROK and their complaints when looked at objectively pretty much justifies the deployment of THAAD to Korea:
China summoned South Korean Ambassador Kim Jang-soo to protest against Seoul and Washington’s agreement to begin talks on deploying a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea..
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin called in the ambassador Sunday to protest.
It is the first time the Chinese government has called in Kim, a former defense minister, who assumed the post last March.
Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry had expressed “deep concern,” about the THAAD discussions.
Hours after the North Korean rocket launch Sunday, South Korea and the U.S. said they would begin talks on deploying the THAAD battery. The launch is widely viewed as a covert ballistic missile test to develop delivery vehicles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
“China’s position on the issue of anti-missile is consistent and clear,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a faxed statement, Yonhap News Agency reported. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but here is the part of their complaint when looked at objectively pretty much justifies deploying THAAD to Korea:
“Countries, when pursuing their own security, should take into account others’ security interests as well as regional peace and stability.”
The Chinese should heed their own advice because their actions to allow the Kim regime to continuously destabilize regional security and threaten the security interests of South Korea is why THAAD looks like it will be deployed to Korea in the first place.
This week the ROK Defense Minister stated for the first time openly that South Korea should consider the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system:
Defense Minister Han Min-koo has echoed the need to consider the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) battery to the Korean Peninsula.
Appearing on a local television program late Monday, Han said that the deployment of THAAD to South Korea must be reviewed from a national security angle.
This is the first time that Han has openly debated over the missile interception system, fueling speculation that South Korea and the U.S. could open talks over the deployment in the coming weeks. [KBS World Radio]
Here is how the Chinese responded this week to the increased speculation of Seoul considering the deployment of THAAD to Korea:
In an editorial Wednesday, Chinese state-media, the Global Times, claimed that the deployment of THAAD to the Korean Peninsula would hurt trust between Seoul and Beijing.
If anything is hurting trust between the two countries it is the Chinese allowing the Kim regime to continuously threaten South Korea with nuclear weapons, missiles and other deadly provocations with no consequences from Beijing. The Chinese could build trust and likely stop the deployment of THAAD if they implemented the sanctions the US has been asking for in response to North Korea’s continuous provocations.
It looks like the Chinese are attempting to stop the expected North Korean rocket launch by sending an envoy to North Korea which was likely prompted by reports that the ROK was considering deploying the THAAD missile defense system to Korea:
China’s top nuclear envoy made a surprise visit to North Korea on Tuesday, a news report said, amid rising tensions over the North’s fourth nuclear test last month.
Wu Dawei, China’s top delegate to the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, flew into Pyongyang in the afternoon, Japan’s Kyodo News agency reported.
China is currently under international pressure to exert its leverage on North Korea to make sure Pyongyang ends its nuclear program.
Wu is expected to meet with North Korean officials over the Jan. 6 nuclear test, which Pyongyang claims was a successful detonation of a hydrogen bomb.
The test has raised security tensions in the region to a new high, with the U.N. Security Council pushing to adopt another sanctions resolution against Pyongyang.
South Korea appears to be inching closer to introducing an advanced U.S. missile defense system to counter the threats posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
Until the Chinese government changes its mind that a nuclear North Korea is a less a threat than a destabilized North Korea they are going to continue to stop harsh sanctions against the Kim regime. This ultimately only encourages the Kim regime to advance their nuclear and missile programs and commit further provocations:
Apart from the more hard-line thinkers in Washington, virtually no one wants to have to deal with what might happen if concerted international action were to actually destabilize Kim Jong Un’s regime, however strongly they may feel about its human rights record, authoritarian government and militantly defiant attitude toward Washington, Tokyo, Seoul and anyone else it sees as a threat.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ran into that wall this week during talks in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. After meeting for more than four hours Wednesday, Kerry expressed his frustration with what the United States sees as China’s failure to do more to rein in Pyongyang, noting that “more significant and impactful sanctions were put in place against Iran, which did not have a nuclear weapon than against North Korea, which does.”
“All nations, particularly those who seek a global leadership role, or have a global leadership role, have a responsibility to deal with this threat,” Kerry said.
In response, Wang said China, which is North Korea’s most important ally, chief trading partner and a key source of economic assistance, agreed on the need for a new U.N. resolution. But he suggested Beijing would not support new penalties even though it condemned the Jan. 6 test.
“Sanctions are not an end in themselves,” Wang said bluntly. “The new resolution should not provoke new tension in the situation, still less destabilize the Korean Peninsula.” [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link.
https://twitter.com/freekorea_us/status/693434661138206720
Government officials attend a ceremony at a port in Gunsan, southwest of Seoul, on Jan. 29, 2016, for the first rice export to China. The first shipment of 30 tons will leave the port next month for Shanghai, where they will be marketed at Lotte Market outlets. South Korea has been working for the last seven years to have rice exported to the neighboring country, hindered by quarantine requirements. (Yonhap)
If the North Koreans move forward their rocket test this would give Seoul additional political cover to move forward with the deployment of THAAD to Korea which the Chinese have been against. If seems that if the Chinese are so concerned about the deployment of THAAD they should do more to control their North Korean allies:
Deployment of the United States’ advanced missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea will be helpful in defending the country from North Korean threats, but the country has no plans to announce any decision on the matter in the near future, a defense official said Friday.
“Our government will consider every measure to prepare against North Korea’s missile threats,” the Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
“If U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD, it will help our national security and defense,” Kim said.
The official government stance signals the U.S. move to deploy the THAAD system inside the USFK is gaining momentum in South Korea.
It also marks a step forward from the country’s more cautious stance in the past that South Korea will weigh the THAAD issue in accordance with national security interests.
Earlier in the day, the U.S.-based Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. could announce next week or so that the two countries are in negotiations over the THAAD system. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
China firm against sanctions-only approach toward North Koreahttps://t.co/hWZ52sJACS
— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) January 27, 2016
