Commentary: S. Korea needs to change its decision on THAAD, instead of site

South Korea on Friday announced a new site for a U.S. missile shield in the country amid strong opposition from locals and its neighbors, just days after Washington announced to speed up the deployment set by the end of the year.

Seoul's latest move apparently came under U.S. pressure. Yet it takes two to tango. Uncle Sam's missile shield Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system cannot roll into South Korea without permit.

South Korea, however, must be clearly aware that what Uncle Sam will bring is not a missile shield to protect it, but "a big bad wolf in disguise" that will wreak havoc on its own homeland, since local residents and neighboring countries are focusing their angry eyes on it.

THAAD's planned deployment is in the name of protecting South Korea's security, but actually is aimed at protecting U.S. troops stationed in the country.

Saying that THAAD can counter the nuke and missile threat from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is merely a ruse. It is not a material guarantee for South Korea's security, as THAAD itself is a curse.

The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is already extremely volatile. Neither the DPRK nor South Korea plus the United States are willing to be outdone. THAAD's arrival will only escalate the military confrontation between the two sides and bring more danger to the peninsula.

THAAD's deployment will break the regional strategic balance and spur neighboring countries to take countermeasures, and South Korea's ties with its neighbors will deteriorate, said Wu Riqiang, an associate professor at the School of International Studies of China's Renmin University.

Drawing fire on itself for an anti-missile system which even cannot protect the city of Seoul, and sacrificing the security of the whole country and people to usher it in are not the results that South Korean authorities hope to see.

THAAD's entry into South Korea undoubtedly will bind South Korea onto the U.S. chariot, and turn the country into a U.S. pawn and tool for seeking "rebalance" and hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.

The deployment of THAAD is obviously a key step for the United States to build an Asian version of NATO, and also an important move for it to build an anti-missile system in the western Pacific region, while THAAD might go to Japan or other countries.

South Korean pacifists have warned that THAAD will turn South Korea into a U.S. "military colony." THAAD's arrival will divide the society of South Korea, where local residents frequently held protests against its deployment, questions within the ruling Saenuri Party were constantly heard, and opposition parties firmly opposed.

South Korea will hold its presidential elections at the end of next year, and the THAAD issue will surely be a hot topic in the elections.

Yet the South Korean authorities still have time to reconsider, make the security of their own nationals a top priority, reverse their wrong decision, and fend off THAAD. Endi