Deposed President Heightens South Korea’s Instability As China Maneuvers For Power

“If South Korea decides to revoke the THAAD decision, this will set a bad precedent, which will cause China to believe that it can use its economic influence over South Korea to control Seoul’s strategic agenda”, Benjamin Lee, an analyst for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote this week.

In another incident, more than 3,400 passengers who arrived in the port of Jeju on a cruise ship on Saturday allegedly refused to disembark as a form of protest against South Korea.

China would follow in the footsteps of Japan in using a currency swap scheme as a tool to increase pressure on South Korea in the course of a row over noneconomic issues. China’s tourism ministry instructed tour companies to stop selling trips to South Korea starting March 15. That is why its deployment is a source of serious concern for Beijing. The US and its allies insist that North Korea freeze its nuclear weapons development, but Kim Jong-un – who took over leadership after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in 2011 – has shown himself determined to develop a significant nuclear arsenal. On the one hand, China has voiced opposition to North Korea’s missile tests, and suspended coal imports from the North under a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Confronted with an intense political crisis in Washington, the Trump administration is not simply considering, but actively preparing for, reckless provocations and military moves against North Korea that have the potential to trigger a cataclysmic war that draws in the entire world. “It will make the North Koreans even more jumpy and have a way itchier trigger finger”.

China’s erstwhile client North Korea has become an urgent threat to stability – Xi’s stated top priority – from one end of Asia to the other. Moon also addressed China’s retaliatory measures against the THAAD missile defense system deployment: “While I fully understand that China is anxious and voicing its opposition, the THAAD deployment is strictly a South Korean security issue and falls within our sovereignty”. It would be nice to hope that matters will calm down once the US-South Korean exercise is over, the South Korean president is replaced and China is persuaded that the THAAD system is not directed against it. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to seek a new approach to dealing with North Korea in a trip to the region next week, though China’s calls for talks have been rebuffed by the U.S., Japan and South Korea.

Beijing does not like any of its options vis-à-vis North Korea, but the world can not afford for China to remain complacent.

Beijing has not directly said it is targeting South Korean firms, although it officially objects to the THAAD deployment, which began last week.

South Korea has swap deals with Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates as well as China. If he keeps ignoring China’s advice and launches further missiles and nukes as part of his domestic political consolidation agenda, not even a liberal South Korean administration will have the political capital to call off Thaad.

Asked whether the United States would continue shipping THAAD components to South Korea, Davis said “Yes”. In the eyes of Chinese leaders, sooner or later Seoul will have to capitulate because it can not afford to lose its lucrative business with Beijing. “It’ll serve Chinese interests best if we step back a bit and give the South a little breathing space to settle their domestic politics”.

Since the recent ouster of the scandal-plagued, pro-American conservative president Park Geun Hye, the future of Thaad has come under a cloud. -China Initiative told VOA that Chinese officials “will be looking for indications of how seriously President Trump will pursue economic issues such as redressing the trade balance and seeking more opportunities for USA firms to export goods and services to China”.

“I believe that they will sustain this pressures during the next few months, in the hope the new leader of South Korea can be convinced to reverse the decision”, said Dennis Wilder, an adviser to former President George W. Bush and now a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s U.S. “Love China!” they yelled alongside their teacher.

The reemergence of Cold War-like security blocs in Northeast Asia would only exacerbate regional hostilities.

The U.S. has announced that it will permanently deploy attack drones to South Korea to help counter the growing threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs – including to U.S. military bases in Japan.