Records suggest Moon slow-rolled Thaad for Xi visit

The former Moon Jae-in administration may have delayed the installation of the U.S.-led anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system for fear of its impact on a hoped-for visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Defense Ministry...

A truck carrying military equipment arrive in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, on May 29, 2020, to enter the U.S. military base holding the Thaad system. [NEWS]1

The former Moon Jae-in administration may have delayed the installation of the U.S.-led anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system for fear of its impact on a hoped-for visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Defense Ministry records revealed.

According to five Defense Ministry documents recently obtained by People Power Party Rep. Shin Won-sik’s office and revealed Thursday, there were numerous mentions of the U.S. government’s “high interests” in getting the environmental impact assessment going.

“The U.S. side expressed their high interests by presenting opinions on the schedule for the environmental impact assessment and inquiring about future plans,” said one of the documents drafted by the ministry.

Not following through with some measures to get the environmental test going, such as making recommendations for members of the environmental test committee, “could put a burden on the ROK-US alliance,” it said.

But according to the meeting notes between high-level officials of the ministry and the presidential national security office, the Moon administration ultimately decided to postpone the recommendation process in light of a possible visit to Korea by Xi. Beijing has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the system, calling it a U.S. scheme to spy on China.

The U.S.-led antimissile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system installed in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, on June 22. [NEWS1]

The Moon administration made constant but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to get Xi to visit Korea throughout its five-year term.

The installation of the Thaad system in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang, took place in October 2017, but the formation of a committee of experts and officials to carry out the environmental impact assessment was repeatedly delayed.

The system couldn't be launched without the assessment of its impact on the environment.

In the Defense Ministry’s records dated June 2020, the South Korean government was said to have told Washington that “the schedule for follow-up procedures” on the environmental assessment “couldn’t be defined.”

The ministry’s records also contained responses from the U.S. government, including from Robert Abrams, then-commander of U.S. Forces Korea, who was quoted to have asked the ministry for a swift and adequate response and support from the Korean government on getting the Thaad system ready for use.

But the dilly-dallying on the part of Moon administration allegedly continued, and the U.S. government by September that year began to call for a more active response from the Korean government, according to the Defense Ministry records.

Local protests and sit-ins had continued outside the U.S. military base in Seongju where the Thaad system was deployed, for nearly three years by then. When mass sit-ins took place, the U.S. military had to fly in their foodstuffs and other necessities into the base.

Some protestors and police clash during a rally held at the entry point of the Thaad site in Seongju County on June 15, 2021. [YONHAP]

By May 2021, the Defense Ministry in one of its memos, also obtained by Rep. Shin’s office, said that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the United States, an ally of South Korea, to understand the current situation around Thaad, especially how U.S. forces still lacked reliable ground access to the system.

The Moon administration recognized how the Thaad situation could “put pressure on the alliance,” according to the ministry, but it still refused to ensure constant access to the site.

It even appeared to blame U.S. forces, as the ministry records included the administration’s assessment that “the United States’ continued request for constant ground access to the system” was “intensifying the tension on-site.”

The Moon administration concluded its term in May 2022 without once nominating any environmental assessment committee member.

The committee was established three months into the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

BY KANG TAE-HWA, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]