Seoul may deploy Patriot missiles
South Korea is considering deploying Patriot anti-missile batteries in the wake of North Korea's sinking of one of its warships - a move that risks angering Beijing by deepening Seoul's involvement in US-led regional missile defence.
Senior South Korean officials say Beijing has already warned against such a move but that the plan could proceed once military policy and budget reviews are completed later this year.
South Korea is likely to keep Patriot PAC-3 batteries on land for low-level protection against incoming missiles but will stop short of putting interceptor missiles on warships. The seaborne weapons operate high in the atmosphere and form a key element in a theatre missile defence network operated by the United States and Japan.
The issue surfaced in US-South Korean military talks this year and is likely to be discussed further soon.
'There has a been a big shift in thinking since the Cheonan sinking,' said one official close to talks. 'It is still an exceptionally sensitive issue but it is now a lot more likely ... We are talking about protecting South Korea ... it not about a wider envelope, even though that is how it will be perceived.'
Forty-six sailors died when the Cheonan was torpedoed in March.
If the defence plan is approved, it will be a dramatic shift for South Korea. The previous two administrations had been wary of provoking North Korea or angering China by such a move. The administration of President Lee Myung-bak is proving more assertive. He is also forging even closer military ties with the US and Japan.
China's testing of missiles to shoot down satellites has further emboldened South Korean thinking, officials said. 'Frankly, there is no mood to entertain China over this issue,' one said.
While Patriot missiles (pictured) would nominally be deployed to counter the North Korean threat, Beijing would be concerned by any moves by the US and allies that it perceives as intended to contain China.
Ballistic missile defences are controversial. They are hugely expensive and detractors liken them to trying to hit a bullet with another bullet. Their use inflames neighbouring countries which lack them.
Japan and the US have been co-operating on ballistic missile defences based around a network of land- and sea-based missiles, satellites and the Aegis command and control system. South Korea has Aegis-equipped warships but has not deployed interceptor missiles at sea or on land and remains on the fringes of the network.
In a speech to an informal security conference in Singapore yesterday, US Defence Secretary Dr Robert Gates said the US was committed to increasing regional deterrents, but did not go into specifics.
'We are taking serious steps to enhance our missile defences ... to develop capabilities in Asia that are flexible and deployable - tailored to the unique needs of our allies and partners and able to counter the clear and growing ballistic missile threats in the region,' he said.
Dr Jonathan Pollack, an Asian studies scholar at the US Naval War College, said any deployment of anti-ballistic-missile batteries in South Korea could force China to ponder the costs of its habitually cautious approach to North Korea.
