Delay in THAAD rollout may open door to reconciliation
A little over a week ago, four more anti-missile launchers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system were secretly shipped by the United States to the Republic of Korea making its rollout imminent. However, the rollout could face months of delay due to a legitimate environmental evaluation ordered by newly elected ROK President Moon Jae-in.
Yet while meeting with visiting US Senator Dick Durbin on May 31, Moon said his order for an investigation into the clandestine transportation is "purely a domestic measure", not about "trying to change the existing decision or sending a message to the United States".
The mixed signals came at a time when China and the ROK, whose relations suffered a blow because of Seoul's decision to allow the deployment of THAAD, seem ready to move on to make up for lost time.
