By Scott A. Snyder, Forbes: “South Korea’s new president decided to halt deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system last week—pending environmental review. Barely a day after Moon Jae-in’s announcement, North Korea reportedly launched four short-range anti-ship missiles.”
South Korea’s Defense Blunder
From The Wall Street Journal: “Moon Jae-in’s decision to suspend deployment of a missile-defense system last week signals how the new South Korean President will approach the threat from North Korea as well as relations with the U.S., China and Japan. Like his center-left predecessors, Mr. Moon wants to play a balancing role between the regional powers and convince North Korea to negotiate an entente. This naïvete puts South Korea’s security in peril..”
From The Japan Times: “South Korea will suspend any further deployment of a controversial U.S. missile defense system until an environmental impact assessment ordered by new President Moon Jae-in is finished, his office said Wednesday.”