Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday the results of its investigation into the problematic report by the Ministry of National Defense to the new administration on the delivery of four additional launchers for a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery. President Moon Jae-in had ordered the probe after learning that the ministry failed to include the arrival of additional THAAD launchers in its policy briefing to his de facto transition team and the National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong last month.
The results of Cheong Wa Dae’s probe leave many questions to be answered. The ministry cited an “agreement with the U.S.” to maintain secrecy over the deployment for withholding details about the additional launchers from the new administration. But this still does not explain why the defense ministry failed to make an accurate report to the Moon government when former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who was serving as acting president for former President Park Geun-hye, had been told about it. This is an unacceptable affront to our commander-in-chief. The ministry has absolutely no excuse for acting as if it serves a single administration.
Opposition parties have blamed President Moon and his national security team for lacking knowledge on THAAD, claiming that their incompetence on national security issues is what started the controversy in the first place. But such a view distorts the essence of the problem. The root cause of the current THAAD row is the defense ministry’s failure to make a proper report on the U.S. missile defense system to the new government. Given that THAAD is one of the most important national security issues, the defense ministry should have prepared an accurate report for the new President’s national security team.
The presidential office found that Wee Seung-ho, the defense ministry’s deputy minister for policy, told his subordinates to delete references to the additional launchers in the ministry’s report to the Moon administration. Wee was suspended from his post and transferred back to the Army, Tuesday.
Cheong Wa Dae also found that the ministry tried to evade a proper environmental assessment study required by law. It is understandable that the ministry was trying to expedite the THAAD deployment to defend the nation against North Korea’s increasing military provocations. But this cannot be an excuse for ignoring the law and the people’s sentiment.
President Moon has ordered a full environmental impact report, which is expected to delay deployment of the antimissile system, to be completed by the end of this year. The new environmental impact report reflects Moon’s emphasis on the “procedural legitimacy” of THAAD. The ministry should take it as an occasion to promote transparency in future THAAD proceedings.