CRI听力:THAAD deployment in S. Korea disrupts global balance: expert

The United States and South Korea say the THAAD system will be used as a defense against missile threats from North Korea.

However, Alexander Vorontsov, Head of the Korea and Mongolia Department at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, says that judging from the technical specifications of the system, the range of its defense capabilities clearly goes far beyond the scope of the Korean peninsula.

"From north to south of Korean peninsula is nearly 1,000 kilometers long, but the THAAD anti-missile system from the United States can intercept missiles that are outside of the atmosphere and at a very high altitude and its technical parameter well exceeds the defensive needs of South Korea. Therefore the explanation that the United States and South Korea announced to the public is not convincing."

Vorontsov says the US deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea is actually further advancing its global anti-missile strategy.

"We together with China forcefully oppose the deployment of the THAAD system, because it will upset the balance of power and break the balance of global military power. The system has new technology and new characteristics, however, originally no such weapon existed in South Korea, therefore, it may trigger an arms race. I believe Russia and China will have to take serious measures to deal with the current situation. This will be a long-term process, and it has started to ferment now."

He further notes that as the Korean peninsula is adjacent to both China and Russia, the two countries face the same challenges.

The THAAD missile shield has a 200 km-range for intercepting missiles.

However, the system is to be set up some 300 km southeast of Seoul in Seongju county, far from the border with North Korea.

The plan to deploy THAAD has prompted protests from thousands of local residents angry at the potential health and environmental hazards.

Brian Becker, Asian affairs expert from the US based anti-war and civil rights organization - the ANSWER Coalition, says the South Korean government ignored public opinion when agreeing to the THAAD deployment.

"I think that the Park government in South Korea has ignored the feelings and sentiments of the Korean people. They have been opposed to this agreement. It's a rushed deployment; it's a rushed judgment. And you see the people in Seongju where it will be deployed in South Korea, they are protesting; they were a conservative city; they supported the government, but they are protesting. Nobody asked them, nobody consulted with them and no one is determined that the environmental impact on them won't be harmful -- they think it will be harmful."

A THAAD battery is composed of six mobile launchers, 48 missiles and airborne radar and firing control system. The forward-based mode radar allegedly has a maximum detectable range of some 2,000 kilometers.

Both China and Russia have expressed strong opposition to the deployment of THAAD in South Korea on the grounds that it breaks regional strategic balance and damages security interests of its neighbors.