THAAD has increased the tension of the three countries.

The purpose of the deployment of such defense system is to upgrade Korean military power due to consistent provocation of North Korea over South Korea. The North has tested almost every missile weapon they can such as the Taepo Dong system, Musudan missiles and recently the No Dong missile which fell very close to Japan. They announced this missile as a practice drill in case of nuclear attacks on South Korea and the U.S. By deploying THAAD in Korea, it will intercept short and medium ballistic missile from North Korea. In my point of view, deploying more weapons simply means more security in South Korea which is sure to bring a positive effect in military defense.

However, the deployment of the new system has contributed some negative effects on the relations between South Korea and China. “The recent move by the South Korean side has harmed the foundation of mutual trust between the two countries," said Mr. Wang. Even though the deployment of THAAD won't have any effects on China, China has expressed their discontent publicly in areas such as diplomacy and economics. They claim that the reason for THAAD is for the U.S. to overlook China's territory at all times, but their intention is to stop the military power over the two allied countries.

However, James Syring stressed that the missile defense system was not made to target China in the first place. “Never has been, never will. We are concerned about North Korea in this region.” said the director of the MDA. The complaint of THAAD isn't only from China.

Seongju citizens have also expressed their complaints in setting up the military system in their area in concerns of health dangers from the radar. However, experts asserted that radar from the defense shield has no effect on human health and it has no proof of health warnings. The shield radar only emits 0.007 percent watts compared to the prohibited amount specified in the Korean law which is really a small figure. Also the defense system is very quiet and environmentally safe. The positive effect is way too big compared to the devastation North Korea would bring to our country in case of war occurring. Intercepting a missile will save thousands of lives.

Jeong Seung-in, reporter  samcandothat@naver.com

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