PRESS RELEASE

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U.S. Presses South Korean Defense Ministry To Deploy THAAD Before Park Is Ousted

Dec. 11, 2016 (EIRNS)—The Korea Times reports today that the Republic of Korea's Defense Ministry plans to "speed up the procedure" of deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles by May of next year—i.e., before any new administration is elected if (as is probable) President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment is approved by the Constitutional Court or she is forced to resign. They even announced that they would waive the environmental studies required by law to save time.

It is clear that Obama is panicked that the opposition parties, which strongly oppose the THAAD deployment as useless against North Korea but a serious provocation against China and Russia, will stop the deployment altogether if they come to power. The announcement of the rush to deploy is already causing a backlash from opposition parties, which have made clear that they will re-examine several disputed projects undertaken by the Park Geun-hye administration, including the THAAD missiles.