Pres. Park Geun-hye’s diplomatic and security team over THAAD controversies

Presiding over a session of the National Security Council, President Park Geun-hye on Thursday called for a stop to “needless” squabbling over the planned deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. She said that the country would no longer exist if it loses security of the nation and the people due to political strife caused by clashes and animosity between interested parties.

Regarding concerns over health hazards from the THAAD radar system, the president said that it would “cause no health problems and pose no dangers to the agricultural products produced in the region.” She also instructed her administration to continue to listen to the voices of the local residents and communicate with them in the deployment process. The president also noted that the government could not hold open discussions over the selection of the deployment site as it is a “grave” security issue. Had the government put to the issue to open discussions and prevented misunderstandings in advance, however, the government would not have had to be in a flurry to allay protests just before the president left for Mongolia to attend an Asia-Europe Meeting summit.

The government has revived the National Security Council’s (NSC) standing committee and secretariat after President Park ordered the administration in December 2013 to seek measures to proactively and efficiently respond to changing situations on the Korean Peninsula and in neighboring countries. No other issue would be more important than the THAAD issue in requiring the role of a control tower. However, the government’s attitude before and after the THAAD announcement led us to question if it has the ability to overcome divided public opinions amid diplomatic high seas in which the United States and China’s hegemonic rivalry.

The government had maintained its “three nos” attitude – no U.S. request for THAAD deployment, no South Korea-U.S. consultations, and no decision on the THAAD deployment – and thus failed to make preparations for issues such as public relations and compensations for residents in the deployment site. Having concentrated on keeping the THAAD decision confidential until the announcement, the government has disclosed the Patriot missile base and ballistic missile, warning radar base to the media in an attempt to publicize the safety of the THAAD radar system. It is questionable whether it is safe to reveal such military secrets to the public like that.

It is said that although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs objected to the early announcement of the THAAD deployment decision out of concerns over difficulties in winning China’s cooperation in sanctioning North Korea, the Ministry of National Defense pushed ahead with the announcement. There are doubts over whether Kim Kwan-jin, chief of The National Security Office and chairman of the NSC standing committee, played his coordinating role smoothly.

Had President Park publicly discussed the need for the THAAD deployment with senior diplomatic and security officials standing behind her, the announcement would have been far more appealing. She should reconsider, from the public’s perspectives, whether to maintain her confidence over government officials who lack such creativity and are at a loss what to do before and after making the THAAD announcement. In addition, there are continued calls for a cabinet reshuffle from the political circles.

한기흥기자 eligius@donga.com