String of US defense officials visit Korea to discuss THAAD

By Jun Ji-hye

Gen. Mark A. Milley

More high-ranking U.S. military officials are visiting Seoul in an effort to ensure the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea goes as planned.

Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, arrived here, Wednesday, for discussions about the deployment with South Korean officials.

Milley is scheduled to meet with South Korea’s Army Chief of Staff Gen. Jang Jun-kyu, Friday, officials here said ― without giving further details about his visit.

Before arriving in Seoul, he visited China, during which he met with ranking military officials and explained that the missile defense system is not designed to provoke China.

“In Korea, he is scheduled to visit U.S. Army troops at several locations on the peninsula. While here, he will receive updates on brigade deployments, the combined U.S. and ROK 2nd Infantry Division, the relocation of U.S. Army units to Camp Humphreys and plans to deploy a THAAD battery to protect the Republic of Korea from North Korean ballistic missile threats,” the U.S. Army website said.

Since the deployment plan was announced in July, U.S. Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning and the U.S. Army Pacific Commander Gen. Robert Brown visited Seoul early this month separately, during which they inspected 8th Army’s 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, which is stationed here and expected to operate the THAAD battery.

Then on Aug. 10 and 11, Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. James Syring visited Seoul and held a meeting with South Korean journalists. He stressed that THAAD is capable of shooting down enemy missiles 100 percent of the time and the system poses no health or environmental risks.

Observers say that the series of visits made by the U.S. high-ranking officials reflect the country’s will to push ahead with the deployment as planned despite resistance from China and residents living in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province, which will host the battery.

The U.S. officials are also laying the groundwork for a Washington-Beijing summit that is expected to take place on the occasion of the G20 Summit scheduled to be held early next month in Hangzhou, China, observers added.

China is strongly expressing its opposition against the deployment, out of concerns that the system’s AN/TPY-2 radar could be used to spy on the country’s military activities and missile capabilities, and consequently, compromise its security interests.

In response to such concerns, Vice Adm. Syring told reporters, “Our missile defense system is not designed against China. We don’t defend against China as a threat … we are concerned about North Korea in this region,”

For their part, Seongju residents have also risen up in protest since the deployment announcement, claiming that the radar will damage their health as well as their agricultural products.

Regarding protest from residents, United States Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks said, “When it comes to safety in and around the radar system, no one will be closer to that radar than my soldiers under my command.”