ed Flap about missile shileld

The United States is stepping up efforts to deploy an advanced missile defense system, called THAAD, in South Korea. In contrast, the Seoul government’s response is too passive and non-committal, causing concerns over increasing tension here, regardless of the will of Koreans.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said on Tuesday that his government is considering deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system to South Korea to better deal with North Korean threats. "We are working with the government of South Korea now to determine if that is the right thing to do.”

In response, an official at the Defense Ministry said, "Washington has neither officially asked to deploy a THAAD system to South Korea nor have the two sides held any discussions on the issue.”

Either one side is lying, or the allies are interpreting the ongoing process in completely different ways.

Such confusion will disappear if and when Seoul makes its refusal clear.

Unfortunately, the chances of such a possibility seem to be quite slim. Bringing in the THAAD ― a system to intercept incoming hostile missiles at altitudes of 40-150 kilometers after detecting them with land-based radar that has a range of more than 1,000 km ― would enhance South Korea’s defense capability against the North’s missile threats ― at least in theory ― given its relatively low strike rate so far.

Compared with the uncertainty of gaining an advantage, the disadvantages are clearer and more immediate. China and Russia have long warned against using the X-band radar for gathering information about their missile systems. Beijing in particular has told Seoul that it would regard the deployment of THAAD as crossing the ``red line” in the bilateral relationship, meaning there would be economic and/or political retaliation. Its eventual deployment is also certain to trigger an arms race in this part of the world.

The U.S. deputy defense secretary said that Washington is attempting to persuade Beijing and Moscow that the proposed system is not targeting them. The remark, which came while Seoul still officially denies any discussion of the issue, can be interpreted as being a bigger insult to its ally, insinuating that the U.S. would go ahead with its deployment in South Korea, if only it gains approval from China and Russia.

All this points to the need for the Park Geun-hye administration to explicitly say "no.” Yet Seoul appears to have neither the intention nor the ability to do so. Top security officials, including National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and Defense Minister Han Min-koo, have talked about the advantages of the system, and defense officials here say they are ready to discuss it after a formal request from Washington.

Some say that the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East may signal the start of another worldwide military conflict before the global community becomes aware of it.

A more peace-loving and self-reliant government here would have sought inter-Korean dialogue and attempted to ease military tension on this divided peninsula instead of risking providing it ― yet again ― as the arena of a proxy war between the great powers.

Unfortunately, it seems increasingly clear that Koreans cannot expect this from their incumbent administration.