South Korea has slammed US
President Donald Trump's suggestion that Seoul should pay for the
Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) missile system that is now
being deployed in the country. Trump had earlier questioned why the US
was paying for the system that he valued at $1bn (£775m).
"I informed
South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. It's a billion dollar
system," Trump said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday (27 April).
"It's phenomenal, shoots missiles right out of the sky."
"There is no change in South
Korea and the United States' position that our government provides the
land and supporting facilities and the US bears the cost of Thaad
system's deployment, operation and maintenance," South Korea's defence
ministry responded.
Despite strong opposition from China, the US military
started deploying the Thaad in early March in a bid to help South Korea
intercept Pyongyang's ballistic missiles and defend itself against a
potential missile attack from the isolated country.
The deployment has also been a
major topic of discussion in South Korea's ongoing presidential race.
Front runner Moon Jae-in's top foreign policy adviser said Trump's
suggestion that Seoul pay for Thaad would be an "impossible option".
"Even if we
purchase THAAD, its main operation would be in the hands of the United
States," said Kim Ki-jung, foreign policy adviser to Moon and professor
at Seoul's Yonsei University. "So purchasing it would be an impossible
option. That was our topic when we were considering the options."
Trump's remarks came after the
US started bringing in launchers, radar and other key elements of the
advanced anti-missile defence system to the site in Seongju, south of
the country, on 26 April. The surprise move to accelerate the deployment
came amid tensions in the peninsula following North Korea's acts of
belligerence, showing off its fire power.
Moon had called the move very inappropriate
and regrettable and said it stripped the next Seoul government of its
right to decide on its own about Thaad.
Trump's comments seem to have
taken South Korean businesses by surprise. An official from South
Korea's automakers' association told Reuters that the group was now
worried about the "uncertainty" of the free-trade deal.
"Talk
and actual policy are different. They [the Trump administration] have
not requested anything from us so we'll have to wait and see," a top
South Korean finance ministry official, speaking anonymously, said
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