US, China officials visit Seoul for THAAD issue
By Yi Whan-woo
Ranking U.S. and Chinese officials are likely to discuss thorny issues such as the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with their Korean counterparts during their visits to Seoul this week.
On Tuesday, Daniel Russel, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, will meet Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong and Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo, the government said Sunday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao will visit Cho and Lee in a separate meeting, Monday. Liu arrived in Seoul, Sunday for a four-day visit. He will leave for Japan Wednesday.
Russel will arrive in South Korea on Monday for a two-day visit. The ministry said the purpose of his trip is to “reaffirm the staunch alliance between Seoul and Washington.” It added that he will return home on Tuesday.
The visit is somewhat unexpected and speculation has grown that Washington is trying to put pressure on Seoul over its deployment of THAAD, a U.S. advanced missile-defense system, on the Korean Peninsula despite China’s protests against such a move.
According to military sources, Sunday, Washington has included the THAAD system as part of the military support it would provide to South Korea in case of an emergency on the peninsula.
Washington has recently hinted at the deployment of a THAAD battery on Korean soil to better deter North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats.
THAAD can shoot down a wide variety of ballistic missiles at higher altitudes than any other defense system owned by South Korea.
South Korea has yet to decide whether to allow the U.S. to deploy THAAD here at all times and has maintained strategic ambiguity to appease China.
Russel’s visit will also take place amid Beijing’s move to establish the AIIB which will be used to finance massive development projects in Asia. It is widely seen as China’s counterbalance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), led by the U.S. and Japan.
The U.S. has expressed concern over the transparency of the AIIB although China has stressed the bank will be efficient and transparent, saying “it will be able to learn from past mistakes made by the international banking community.”