The first pieces of a US-built missile defense system designed to mitigate the threat of North Korean missiles arrived at the Osan Air Base in South Korea Monday night, according to the US military.
The announcement comes just a day after North Korea test-fired four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
China has voiced opposition to the proposed placement of the military hardware known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system so close to its borders. It sees the move as a threat.
But with North Korea upping the amount of missile and nuclear tests last year, the US and South Korea have publicly stressed the need to speed up the deployment of the technology.
It’s designed to shoot down incoming missiles that threaten civilian populations, akin to shooting a bullet with another bullet in simple terms, experts say.
“Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea,” Adm. Harry Harris, commander, US Pacific Command, said in a news release.
The decision to deploy THAAD in South Korea was made in July of last year, and US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it’s committed to following through.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and South Korean Defense Secretary Han Min-koo spoke over the phone last week and agreed that THAAD should be deployed “ASAP.”
Limitations
The system isn’t a panacea that would completely shield the US and its allies from the North Korean missile threat.
It’s “aimed solely at defending South Korea against missiles from North Korea,” according to US Forces in Korea.
The system could be overwhelmed if North Korea were to launch a series of missiles simultaneously and it’s not effective against submarine-launched ballistic missiles launched from south, east or west of lower South Korea, according to a report from the North Korea monitoring group 38 North.
THAAD can detect and track targets within a range of about 1,000 kilometers, the report said, which means it may not stop a potential intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in January that his country is in the final stages of developing an ICBM, which could reach the west coast of the United States.
But President Trump vowed that “it won’t happen” in a tweet prior to his inauguration.
Opposition
North Korea sees the missile defense system as a threat that will push the Korean peninsula to the “brink of a nuclear war,” it said last month through state media.
The US and its allies in the region, notably South Korea and Japan, tend to focus on THAAD’s defensive nature. They tout its value as a system to prevent a missile from hitting a target and killing people.
“This is purely a defensive measure that the alliance must take in light of the serious threat posed by North Korean missiles,” Chris Bush, a spokesman for the US Forces in Korea said.
But Beijing and Moscow don’t see it that way. They’re both vehemently opposed to THAAD’s deployment because they believe it threatens their own security interests.
Experts say both countries worry the system would render their own missiles useless, using the same method that the South would North Korea’s.