South Korea’s Suspension of THAAD
Background
The US-funded Thaad system was gifted to South Korea as a self-defense mechanism to protect them against the potential launch of North Korean missiles. The acronym stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, and would be used to intercept potential missiles shot towards the South from the North mid-flight and shoot them down before they can reach their anticipated target. The issue in this is that hundreds of S. Koreans have protested against the environmentally harmful batteries that are utilized in the defense system. Additionally, China has been incredibly vocal about their fears about the prospective violation of their privacy because of THAAD’s “powerful surveillance system on its territory.” So in stride, South Korea has decided to suspend its launch until an environmental report can be drawn up. This comes with the implication of US disapproval because they see THAAD as a vital tool to keep East Asia safe from North Korea. Amid the chaos, there is also the potential that the South Korean military has been working with the US to keep the missile catchers active, behind the back of the Korean President leading to several more questions about loyalty in this situation. So the question posed is whether or not South Korea should continue with its plan to launch the controversial missile interception system, or put off its deployment indefinitely? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40183448 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39883804 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/07/south-korea-suspends-thaad-missile-system/ http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/07/asia/south-korea-thaad-suspended/index.html Historical Background Looking back one can see that during the Vietnamese War, the U.S. was heavily involved in giving their military aid. In this war, the South was pitted against the North as the North attempted to spread their communism ideals throughout all of Vietnam. The U.S. offered their help as part of their policy of containment, trying to stop the spread of communism from permeating further than the Soviet Union. However, in this instance as well as the current one in South Korea, their involvement caused grief among the natives as the war stretched long and hard as the atrocities surpassed more than anyone anticipated. The North and the South Vietnamese disapproved of the war for obvious reasons. Coupled with this war was the great distaste that the American people had for their involvement in the war that was not their’s for a cause that was greatly dividing the nation. In the end, it was after a call to end bombings and a promise to peace that allowed both sides to come to peace agreements that barely held up as sporadic fighting continued to occur intermittently, making time the only real cure to this hostility. http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history
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