SEOUL: In his first mission to reassure an important US ally, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in South Korea on Thursday and said he would talk to the country’s leaders about the deployment of a new defence system designed to intercept North Korean missiles.
“I will talk to them about Thaad, absolutely,” Mattis told reporters on his plane, using the acronym for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, the US anti-missile system.
“It is a defensive system,” he added. “There is only one reason we would have this under discussion right now — that is, North Korea’s activities.”
South Korea is a logical first stop for Mattis, who will also visit Japan on his whirlwind trip before returning to Washington.
Tensions have risen in the region after Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, proclaimed during his New Year’s Day address that his military was preparing to conduct its first test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
But Asian nations have also been concerned about conflicting signals from President Donald Trump, which has made reassuring allies Mattis’s first order of business.
During his campaign, Trump mused that the United States could save money if nations like South Korea and Japan developed their own nuclear weapons — comments that ran counter to decades of US non-proliferation policy.
Trump said on Twitter last month that North Korea would be stopped from developing the capability to reach the United States with a nuclear weapon. But he did not say whether he was referring to taking military or diplomatic steps. “It won’t happen,” he tersely declared of a North Korean missile test.
One of Trump’s first acts as president was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which had been an important pillar of the Obama administration’s trade policy in the region. Critics say the withdrawal will give China an opportunity to expand its influence.
More recently, Trump reassured Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan in a phone call Saturday of the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to his nation’s security, according to a statement from the White House. He made the same assurance Monday in a call with the acting president of South Korea, Hwang Kyo-ahn.
The various messages — some spontaneous, some premeditated — have given Mattis’ otherwise traditional statements of support for South Korea and Japan strategic importance.
“It is a priority for President Trump’s administration to pay attention to the northwest Pacific,” Mattis said. “I am going to get current by listening to them, finding out where their issues are, and then we are going to work together and strengthen our alliance.”
Mattis’ decision to visit South Korea and Japan on his first official trip abroad was seen in Seoul as a reflection of the new administration’s seriousness in dealing with the North Korean threat.
“In less than two weeks since taking office, President Trump has been almost daily issuing executive orders upending not only his predecessor Obama’s policies but also some of the long-standing American policy lines,” said Go Myong-hyun, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. “In this context, Secretary Mattis’ trip, which serves to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to its allies, is an unexpected present.”
The fraught political situation in South Korea — President Park Geun-hye faces an impeachment trial — also poses a challenge, given that a presidential election may be held as early as the spring.
“Mattis is going to meet with people who probably aren’t going to be in office in a few months,” said Joel S. Wit, an expert on Korea at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Mattis will meet with an array of officials, including Hwang.
One crucial political issue is the Thaad antimissile defence system, which is designed to intercept missiles like the North Korean Rodong. The United States and South Korea initially said they wanted to deploy the Thaad system by the end of the year. Given North Korea’s bellicose behaviour, there has been some speculation that the system could be deployed sooner.
In his comments to reporters, Mattis made the case for deploying the system, without detailing how quickly that might happen.
“Thaad is for defence of our allies’ people, of our troops who are committed to their defence,” he said. “Were it not for the provocative behaviour of North Korea we would have no need for Thaad out here. There is no other nation that needs to be concerned about Thaad.”
But key opposition leaders mindful of the possible election oppose the deployment, arguing that it would do little to defend South Korea from the North’s plentiful short-range missiles while, at the same time, angering China, which could engage in economic retaliation.
The Chinese have long objected to the deployment of a limited missile defence, fearing it could be the first step toward a more comprehensive anti-missile shield that would have the capability to defend against Beijing’s own nuclear deterrent.
