[Yonhap Photo]
The deployment of an advanced US missile shield was put into question after its staunch supporter, Park Geun-hye, was ousted in a landmark court ruling to uphold her impeachment, setting the stage for an early presidential election.
The court's decision came four days after US troops in South Korea began bringing in a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The defense ministry vowed to complete the installation of a THAAD battery in two months.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se ruled out any change in policy direction but a diplomatic row with Beijing over the THAAD system is expected to become a key issue in a race to elect Park's successor.
Opposition presidential candidates, including Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic Party, have called for a review of Park's foreign policies, including her decision to deploy a THAAD battery.
In a strongly-worded statement Friday, Democratic Party head Choo Mi-ae urged Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to freeze all "faulty" foreign and other policies pushed by Park.
"The truncated election campaign will be intense. Many fiery things will be said, perhaps about THAAD, Japan, etc.," Victor Cha, a Georgetown University professor and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank, told Yonhap News Agency.
"It will be important for the US to understand the extremes that campaign rhetoric can go to, and to work closely with a new government as soon as it comes into place," he said.'
Anxiety is growing in South Korea over a wave of retaliatory steps taken by China which claimed the US missile shield would "seriously" hurt strategic interests of China and other countries as well as the security balance in Northeast Asia.
China is South Korea's biggest trade partner. South Korean exports to the world's second-largest economy stood at 124.5 billion US dollars last year, accounting for 25 percent of total shipments. Analysts say China worries that the system's detection range could be changed later to target its strategic missiles and force Beijing to spend more on defending its coastal missile bases.
"Clearly, deploying THAAD is the wrong choice," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi China said earlier, urging Seoul to suspend the THAAD deployment and "not to go further down the wrong path". "It's not how neighbors should behave to each other, and it may very well make (South Korea) less secure," he said.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
