Foreign minister nominee remains cautious on additional THAAD deployment

Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin speaks during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

'No plans for redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons'

By Kang Seung-woo

The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration will take a cautious approach to deploying an additional U.S. missile defense shield on the Korean Peninsula, Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin said, Monday, taking a step back from the incoming president's pledge to do so.

The four-term lawmaker, regarded as a diplomacy expert, also said that North Korea appeared unprepared to denuclearize.

The National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee held its confirmation hearing of the nominee ahead of President-elect Yoon's inauguration, slated for May 10.

During the election campaign, Yoon pledged to strengthen the extended deterrence provided by the U.S. in favor of additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployments here in proportion to North Korea's growing missile threats.

"The idea was suggested as part of tightening the nation's missile defense network system in response to a range of North Korean missile threats," Park said.

"The new administration needs to hold in-depth discussion before making a final decision on the issue."

His remarks seem to be mindful of possible Chinese retaliation. Beijing claims that the powerful radar of the THAAD system can be used to spy on military maneuvers in its airspace and hurt its security interests.

As a result, in response to the South Korean government's approval in 2016 of a THAAD battery in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the Chinese government has been carrying out an economic retaliation campaign by imposing unofficial boycotts on Korean products and enforcing tourism restrictions.

"The government needs to make efforts to prevent a security decision from adversely affecting the economy and to this end, we will collect opinions from lawmakers, while providing necessary support for the defense ministry, in charge of the matter, so as to come up with the best way," the nominee said.

Yoon has pledged to pursue a comprehensive strategic alliance with the U.S. as his administration's key foreign policy priority, raising concerns over possible diplomatic friction with China, which has been engaged in fierce competition with Washington.

In response, the minister nominee stressed the importance of strategic dialogue with Beijing despite admitting possible diplomatic conflicts.

"If we engage in diplomacy, based on liberal democracy, the rule of law and human rights, the possible problem with China would boil down to whether to uphold the rules-based order in the end," Park said.

"Should South Korea come into conflict with China on relevant issues, we need to make efforts to minimize potential risks."

With Pyongyang modernizing its nuclear and missile programs, there have been calls for Seoul to bring back U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula. The United States removed all of its nuclear assets from South Korea in 1991.

However, confirming that there have been no negotiations on redeploying nuclear weapons here, the incoming administration will rely more on strengthening extended deterrence, Park noted.

"Reactivating regular meetings of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) between the two countries to ensure the presence of U.S. strategic assets is the best measure that we can take in order to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons effectively," he said.

The EDSCG is a high-level consultative mechanism to achieve North Korean denuclearization through steadfast deterrence, which last met in January 2018. Extended deterrence refers to the commitment to use nuclear weapons to deter attacks on allies, which the U.S. has provided since the removal of its tactical nuclear weapons in 1991.

With regard to North Korea's evolving nuclear program, the nominee, who served as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Trade and National Unification Committee from 2008 to 2010, said its northern neighbor has not given up its nuclear ambition at all, adding that the Yoon administration will focus on stopping North Korea's military provocations.

"We figure that its verbal commitment to denuclearization is not sincere. Although North Korea has continued to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities, we will seek to discourage its provocations," he said.

"While building the deterrence against North Korea, we need to guide the country toward denuclearizing itself by using a variety of measures, based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance."

Park's remarks come days after the North Korean regime showed signs last week of having changed its nuclear doctrine to using nuclear weapons for offensive purposes, not just for a retaliatory strike, raising fears that the threshold for the North's use of nuclear weapons has been lowered.

Park also said the Yoon administration will continue to support international sanctions on North Korea to make it realize "nothing can be achieved with its nuclear weapons."

"If North Korea moves toward substantive progress in denuclearization, the new South Korean administration will consider the provision of humanitarian aid, economic cooperation and a peace treaty in coordination with the U.S.," the nominee said.