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{
  "authors": [
    "Douglas H. Paal"
  ],
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    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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Source: Getty

In The Media

RIMPAC 2016 and THAAD Deployment Tension

An advanced missile defense system, commonly called THAAD, is heading to South Korea, to counter threats from the DPRK. Neighboring China opposes the system.

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By Douglas H. Paal
Published on Jul 13, 2016
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Source: CCTV America

Doug Paal suggests that the United States is a long way from upsetting the strategic balance in Northeast Asia by deploying THAAD, but that there is an incipient security dilemma. The democratic leaders of South Korea and the United States must take measures to protect their peoples from rogue sources of missile threat. North Korea has been exponentially developing its missile capability and the threat has been growing exponentially. The American and South Korean leaders have agreed to deploy THAAD to provide some means of protection. China and Russia see what the United States regards as defensive as purely offensive, and then take measures of their own, which these countries see as purely defensive but the United States sees as offensive. This is when leadedrs have to convene and prevent the constant escalation of security dilemma type of dynamics. China also made some tactical mistakes in this by openly requiring South Korea to not do certain things. For a democratic society, this means that South Korea has to do these things to show that it is not dictated by China. 

One Chinese concern is that China is worried about the radars that will look at China and dissect the difference between real Chinese missile warheads and decoys, and that will give the U.S. an advantage in a nuclear conflict. Another Chinese concern is U.S. integration of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan into an advanced missile detection system in Northeast Asia. This will create a serious political and military threat for China in the longer run. 

This broadcast was originally published by CCTV America.

About the Author

Douglas H. Paal

Distinguished Fellow, Asia Program

Paal previously served as vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase International and as unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan.

    Recent Work

  • Paper
    America’s Future in a Dynamic Asia

      Douglas H. Paal

  • Q&A
    U.S.-China Relations at the Forty-Year Mark
      • +1

      Douglas H. Paal, Tong Zhao, Chen Qi, …

Douglas H. Paal
Distinguished Fellow, Asia Program
Douglas H. Paal
SecurityMilitaryForeign PolicyNuclear PolicyArms ControlNorth AmericaUnited StatesEast AsiaSouth KoreaChinaRussiaNorth Korea

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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