South Korea resists China pressure to limit use of US-built THAAD missile system

Seoul rejected Beijing’s demand that it stop deploying additional anti-missile batteries, saying the system is a means of self-defence

The bickering over the THAAD missile defence shield emerged after an apparently smooth first visit to China by South Korea’s foreign minister this week

Reading Time:2 minutes

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (left) bumps elbows with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Qingdao, China, on August 9. Photo: South Korea Foreign Ministry via AP

Published: 2:20pm, 11 Aug 2022Updated: 3:34pm, 11 Aug 2022

China and South Korea clashed on Thursday over a US missile defence shield, threatening to undermine efforts by the new government in Seoul to overcome long-standing security differences.

The disagreement over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system emerged after an apparently smooth first visit to China by South Korea’s foreign minister this week.

China, contending THAAD’s powerful radar could peer into its airspace, curbed trade and cultural imports after Seoul announced its deployment in 2016, dealing a major blow to relations.

The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Thursday the system stationed in the country is a means of self-defence and can “never” be a subject of negotiations, according to a briefing transcript, after Beijing demanded Seoul not deploy additional batteries and limit the use of existing ones.

Yoon’s office also said Seoul will normalise operations of the missile defence base by the end of August, Yonhap news agency reported.

President Yoon, seeing the system as key to countering North Korean missiles, has vowed to abandon the previous government’s promises not to increase THAAD deployments, participate in a US-led global missile shield or create a trilateral military alliance involving Japan.