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US-South Korea missile agreement draws Seoul deeper into Washington-Beijing rivalry, analysts say
- The US has removed caps on ranges and payloads for South Korean missiles, allowing its ally to develop armaments that can reach beyond the Korean peninsula
- The restrictions were intended to avoid angering China and Russia, but an increasingly assertive Beijing has put those concerns on the back burner, an analyst says
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The United States has given South Korea free rein to develop missiles that can reach beyond the Korean peninsula, a move analysts say has brought a US frontline ally with fast-developing weapons technology deeper into the mounting rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
Following his Friday summit with US President Joe Biden at the White House, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said he was “pleased to announce the termination of the missile guidelines” that had restricted Seoul’s development of missiles for decades.
Moon described the removal of the guidelines as a “symbolic and substantive step demonstrating the robustness of the alliance”.
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They come after Seoul and Washington earlier this year struck a deal on sharing the cost of the 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea. The Moon administration’s outlay this year will be 1.18 trillion won (US$1.05 billion), 13 per cent up from 2019.
Moon’s security advisers described the lifting of missile restrictions as the restoration of South Korea’s “missile sovereignty”.
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The president also said the two allies had agreed to work more closely to achieve peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, especially in consideration of uneasy relations between Beijing and Taipei.
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