A US Move Is Unnerving South Korea

Nine years ago, locals protested when a US missile shield was deployed on a golf course in Seongju, South Korea, as a means to counter any potential North Korean threat. Now come protests over its removal. The Washington Post cited two officials on Monday who said parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system would be shifted from South Korea to the Middle East for use in the war against Iran. CNBC reports President Lee Jae Myung told South Korean lawmakers that "while we have expressed opposition, the reality is that we cannot fully push through our position."

And while Lee said that any such removal would not mean a "serious setback" to its ability to deter any threats from the North, the Guardian reports the news is fueling questions in Seoul about American resolve and the value of a system that can be redeployed when another crisis erupts. The paper also flags another concern: the "risk that North Korea could miscalculate the relocation of some of these weapons as a pretext for low-level provocations to test the allies' defense posture," as Choi Gi-il, a military studies professor at Sangji University, puts it.