Cold
War 2.0
The recent
announcement that South Korea had agreed to deployment of a Terminal
High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on its territory marks an
important advance in the Obama Administration’s militarized Asia
pivot. The THAAD battery threatens to destabilize the military
balance of power and draw South Korea into an anti-China alliance
with the United States and Japan.
The decision
came as the culmination of a long and determined campaign by U.S.
political and military leaders to pressure the Park Geun-hye
government into sacrificing its national interests and antagonize
China, in order to serve U.S. geopolitical goals.
The plan to
install a THAAD battery met with strong Chinese and Russian criticism
and active resistance by Korean progressive forces and residents of
Seongju, where THAAD is to be stationed. U.S. officials claim their
intent is purely defensive in nature, to shield South Korea from
North Korean ballistic missiles, but there is ample cause for
skepticism.
The missiles
in a THAAD battery are designed to counter incoming ballistic
missiles at an altitude ranging from 40 to 150 kilometers. Given
North Korea’s proximity, few, if any, missiles fired by the North
would attain such a height, given that the point of a high altitude
ballistic missile is to maximize distance. Even so, were the North to
fire a high altitude ballistic missile from its farthest point, aimed
at the concentration of U.S. forces in Pyeongtaek, it would require
nearly three and a half minutes for THAAD to detect and
counter-launch. In that period, the incoming missile would have
already fallen below an altitude of 40 kilometers, rendering THAAD
useless. In a conflict with the South, though, North Korea would rely
on its long-range artillery, cruise missiles, and short-range
ballistic missiles, flying at an altitude well below THAAD’s range.
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