Interview: THAAD in S. Korea not conducive to peninsula peace -- Albanian expert

The deployment of the THAAD missile system on the South Korean soil by the United States is not conducive to peace on the Korean Peninsula, a former Albanian deputy minister said Sunday.

"Whatever security concerns that South Korea has due to the increased activity of missile tests of North Korea, it does not justify these recent approval," said Dorian Ducka, former deputy minister of energy and industry of Albania.

South Korea and the United States on Friday announced their final decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) despite continued opposition from neighboring countries.

They announced the advanced U.S. missile defense system is aimed at tackling the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and missile threats.

"Diplomacy and dialogue have been sidelined from the politics of fear and lack of vision and leadership throughout some of advanced and powerful countries, combined with the irrationality of certain leaders and regimes," said Ducka in a written interview with Xinhua.

According to the former minister, South Korea's security interests must be safeguarded but not at the expense of peace and stability on the peninsula.

He said that the deployment of the THAAD System in the long term will poison the trust of parties concerned for stability in the region. "I'm convinced that the system will not help at all a nuclear free Korean peninsula," he noted.

Ducka said the role of China, an active promoter for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and a strategic and business partner to the economic growth of South Korea, should be ensured in helping stabilizing the peninsula.

"I believe that the only answer to stability of the region is dialogue, diplomacy, economic diplomacy and not missile systems diplomacy and rocket diplomacy," he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday in Colombo during a visit to Sri Lanka that the planned deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea far exceeds the Korean Peninsula's defense needs.

The foreign minister told reporters that China had the reasons and rights to question the behind-the-scenes motives of this move, and any excuse for the deployment would be unjustified.

The Chinese top diplomat also called on the South Korean side to be cool-headed and think over what the deployment could actually bring for its security, for the realization of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, as well as for the settlement of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Endi