South Korea Tells China Not to Meddle in Decision Over Missile System
By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea — Tension between Seoul and Beijing over Washington’s desire to deploy a ballistic missile defense system in South Korea intensified on Tuesday as South Korea made an unusual public retort to China, asking it not to meddle in its defense policy.

In recent months, the United States has made it increasingly clear that it wants South Korea to install the American missile defense system, known as Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad. The Americans call it a needed deterrent against North Korea, which has been developing its ballistic missile technology.

At the same time, Beijing has put pressure on Seoul to refuse the American request, arguing that the real target of the system is China.

“A neighboring country can have its own opinion on the possible deployment of the Thaad system here by the U.S. forces in South Korea,” Kim Min-seok, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, said during a regular news briefing on Tuesday, without referring to China by name. “But it should not try to influence our security policy.”

South Korea considers the United States, which still keeps 28,500 troops in the country decades after the Korean War, to be its most important ally. But its growing economic dependence on China — its leading export market — has required an increasingly tricky balancing act. That was apparent this week, as envoys from both countries visited South Korea with opposing demands about the missile defense system.

Mr. Kim’s remarks Tuesday were in response to comments Monday by Liu Jianchao, a Chinese assistant foreign minister, who said he had had “a very candid and free dialogue” with South Korean officials about the issue.

“We hope that China’s concerns and worries will be respected,” Mr. Liu told reporters in Seoul, where his comments were widely interpreted as a sign that Beijing was trying to use its economic influence to pull the country away from Washington.

On Tuesday, a visiting American envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel R. Russel, said it was for South Korea to decide “what measures it will take in its own alliance defense and when.” But he added that the United States military had “a responsibility to consider systems” that can protect the Americans and their ally from North Korean missile threats.

The Thaad system is designed to detect the launching of an enemy ballistic missile at an early stage and intercept and destroy it at a high altitude. In the past, South Korea has maintained that it would rely on American-designed Patriot interceptors to deal with missile threats from the North, while developing its own system.

But the more advanced American system has gained support among South Korean military planners, amid concern that the North is getting closer to its goal of arming missiles with nuclear warheads.

“We will make a decision if the U.S. government asks for consultation, and we will make that decision based upon our national security interests and military benefits,” Mr. Kim said in his remarks Tuesday, adding that Seoul had no intention of purchasing the missile defense system but might allow the United States to deploy it in South Korea.

In a statement last week, the United States military acknowledged for the first time that it had conducted “informal studies” to find suitable locations for a Thaad unit in South Korea.

Although Washington has insisted that such a deployment would be aimed solely at dealing with threats from North Korea, China worries that the system would help the United States military extend its radar sensor capabilities deeper into its territory and compromise its own strategic deterrent.

South Korean analysts said that Seoul’s caution on the issue reflected its growing sense of being squeezed between its traditional ally and its biggest trading partner. “For South Korea, the U.S. deployment of the Thaad is a rose it wants to pick,” said Lee Byong-chul, a senior fellow at the Institute for Peace and Cooperation in Seoul. “But roses have thorns.”

Officials and government-affiliated scholars from China have been explicit and aggressive about the issue in unofficial talks with their South Korean counterparts, essentially saying that it is time for Seoul to choose between Beijing and Washington, according to participants in some recent meetings.

設彈防系統？ 南韓嗆陸別管

南韓國防部發言人金珉奭十七日表示，周邊國家可以就駐韓美軍在南韓部署「戰區高空飛彈防禦系統（THAAD）」一事有自己的立場，但不應試圖影響南韓國防政策。這番談話雖未點名，但顯然是針對中國大陸對此事的關切和壓力。

紐約時報說，這是南韓罕見的公開回嗆大陸。韓聯社也說，此事有可能演變為韓中外交問題。

最近幾個月，美國愈來愈明確表示，希望南韓部署這套系統，以防備北韓的飛彈。大陸則向南韓施壓，要求首爾拒絕美方要求，因為中方認為這套系統是針對大陸，相關的雷達設施將用來加強監控大陸。

南韓認為美國是最重要盟邦，目前有兩萬八千五百名美軍駐守南韓。但在經濟上，南韓愈來愈依賴大陸，如今大陸是南韓最大出口市場。如何在美中之間保持平衡，對南韓是日趨棘手的難題。

美中近日來都派出官員到南韓，對部署這套系統提出針鋒相對的要求。大陸外交部部長助理劉建超十六日訪問首爾時，公開表示希望韓方重視中方對此事的關切。

美國國務院亞太事務助理國務卿羅素十七日在首爾反駁稱，「第三方」對韓美尚未部署的安全系統做強硬表態，令人詫異。他表示，韓美面臨來自北韓的飛彈威脅，美軍有責任維護韓美兩國安全。

金珉奭強調，韓方的立場是，駐韓美軍考慮部署這套系統，是針對漸增的北韓核武與導彈威脅採取的應對措施和遏制手段，如果美國政府就此事向韓方提出協商請求，韓方會在考慮軍事效果、國家安全利益等因素後自主作出決定。

他說，這個問題根本原因在於北韓的威脅，保障國民生命安全是國防部最基本的任務。

分析家說，南韓在傳統盟邦和經濟夥伴之間面臨兩難。首爾和平與合作研究所研究員李炳哲說：「美國這套系統，是南韓想摘的玫瑰。不過，玫瑰有刺。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/world/asia/south-korea-tells-china-not-to-meddle-in-decision-over-missile-system.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/asia-pacific/20150318/c18korea/zh-hant/

2015-03-18．聯合報．A12．國際．編譯組