Tensions with North Korea Escalate as US and South Korea Plan Missile Defense System

On Friday July 8^th, the U.S and South Korea announced that they would deploy an advanced anti-missile defense system to counter a possible North Korean attack. The location of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, is to be decided by the end of the week and the U.S and South Korea hope to have it functioning by the end of 2017, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official. The move came a day after the U.S imposed sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over human rights abuses.

The United States sees the emplacement of THAAD as crucial for countering a possible North Korean attack. According to a Department of Defense official, “North Korea’s continued development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction require the alliance to take this prudent, protective measure to bolster our … missile defense.”

But North Korea issued a stark response calling the the plans for basing the THAAD system in South Korea as a declaration of war, vowing “…physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for U.S world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea are confirmed.” Given this “declaration of war”, Kim claimed that North Korea will begin to treat U.S detainees as prisoners of war, making it unlikely that the two known Americans detained in North Korea will be released on humanitarian grounds in the near future.

China, North Korea’s only ally, also condemned THAAD, claiming that it was disproportionate to the security needs of the Korean peninsula and would only heighten tensions while not curbing North Korea’s nuclear program. But South Korean President Park Geun-hye claimed that the system was necessary to defend against North Korean aggression.

China and Russia, who has also condemned the program, likely see the deployment of THAAD as a symbol of increasing US presence in the region; China may also worry that THAAD could be used to conduct surveillance against it. This proxy dispute between the U.S and China comes could be especially bitter ahead of a UN tribunal decision to be delivered on Tuesday in the case brought by the Philippines, a US ally, regarding China’s claims to islands in the South China Sea.

Tensions between the U.S, South Korea, and North Korea have been historically high since the Korean War in the early 1950’s. Despite it ending in a truce in 1953, a peace treaty was never signed and the two countries are technically still at war. North Korea, a failed state, has taken an aggressive stance toward its southern neighbor. Some analysts suggest that North Korea, despite being temporarily deterred, ultimately seeks to unify the peninsula under northern rule, citing their buildup of short and medium-range missiles and series of tunnels crossing the DMZ as evidence of this. Since 2005 North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests and fired several short, medium, and long-range missiles. While several of North Korea’s missile tests have failed, the threat of North Korean aggression should not be taken lightly.

What gives North Korea such leverage is the perception by the international community that North Korea is an irrational actor. Given its lack of regard for international law and indifference to sanctions, and with China as its sole ally and its main trading partner, there are few bargaining chips that can be played to curb its behavior. Efforts to rely on China to curb North Korean behavior have largely been unsuccessful, and while China has expressed concern over North Korea’s nuclear program, their support for North Korea has not faltered.

While the THAAD missiles may add to the fire that is U.S/South Korea-North Korea relations, North Korea would likely find any excuse to take a harder stance toward the two countries.

It is crucial that THAAD continues to be developed in spite of opposition from China and North Korea. North Korea poses a credible threat, if not to the U.S then certainly to South Korea. Their blatant aggression, possession of nuclear weapons, and lack of regard for international law makes it necessary to take preventative action.