Normalization of THAAD Promoted by Yoon Administration... 'Not Yet...'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The normalization of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which the Yoon Seok-yeol administration sought to promote, appears to require more time. This is because tensions with China have not eased.

On the 14th, a military official stated, "Originally, we planned to establish an evaluation committee this month to conduct a general environmental impact assessment of the THAAD base site together with the Ministry of Environment and the relevant local governments, but it seems difficult due to diplomatic circumstances."

The Yoon Seok-yeol administration recently expressed its intention to "normalize" the THAAD base, which has been in a "temporary deployment" status for five years. To facilitate normalization, the Ministry of National Defense attempted to narrow differences during the 19th Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue) held in Singapore on the 10th, through a South Korea-China defense ministers' meeting.

However, China's stance remained unchanged. Before the meeting, the two ministers exchanged an "elbow greeting." Although the meeting was scheduled for 40 minutes, they extended it to 75 minutes, raising expectations outside the venue, but the situation did not change.

Wei Fenghe, Minister of National Defense of China, reportedly expressed concerns regarding THAAD, which the current government has declared its intention to "normalize." After the meeting, South Korean Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop told reporters, "I will explain the details later," indirectly indicating the ongoing THAAD tensions.

Some speculate that, marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China this year, the THAAD issue, which has been a source of intense tensions, may no longer be discussed openly. During the South Korea-China talks, both sides agreed to promote mutual visits of defense ministers based on the foundation of diplomatic relations and concluded only to activate exchanges between the ministries of defense and the respective armed forces, including vice-minister-level defense strategic dialogues.

Additionally, significance was attributed to the recent formal opening of a direct hotline between the navy and air force. Previously, there were three hotlines between the military authorities of the two countries: a direct line between the ministries of defense, and direct lines between the South Korean navy and air force and the Chinese Northern Theater Command navy and air force, respectively.

This time, South Korea and China established one additional direct hotline each between the South Korean navy and the Chinese Eastern Theater Command navy, and between the South Korean air force and the Chinese Eastern Theater Command air force, increasing the total number of hotlines to five.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.