On March 10, 2022, the new South Korean president, Yoon Seok-wook, took office, stressing that the ROK-US alliance will be a priority in diplomacy, and offered support for the continued deployment of the THAAD system in South Korea, and also said that he would "persuade China" to "persuade China" to take office.
As soon as this remark came out, it immediately caused an uproar all over the world.
Yin Xiyue
As early as 6 years ago, South Korea had agreed to the deployment of the "THAAD system" in its territory by the United States, which was strongly opposed by China and Russia.
This "THAAD system", which can be both defensive and offensive, will pose a great threat to its national defense and security, no matter which country it is placed on the doorstep.
So, what exactly is this daunting "THAAD system"? Why is the mainland so hostile to South Korea's deployment of the system?
THAAD system
To understand all this, let's start with the deployment of the THAAD system in South Korea 6 years ago...
South Korea deploys THAAD system
In early 2016, North Korea's nuclear weapons developed rapidly, first conducting what it called the "first hydrogen bomb" experiment, and a month later sending the "Light Star-4" artificial satellite into space.
A series of actions by North Korea have alarmed its neighbors, a country that has been playing with North Korea for decades, and they will not allow a third nuclear-weapon-possessing country to appear on the following side, after China and Russia.
Therefore, in response to the North Korean nuclear threat, Then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that he would sanction North Korea in all diplomatic channels, but because South Korea had no military voice, she quickly embraced the United States in accordance with customary tradition.
In March of the same year, the South Korean defense minister officially announced: "South Korea has reached an agreement in principle with the United States on the deployment of the 'THAAD system.'" ”
The THAAD system fires interceptor shells
They also explained that South Korea made this move entirely against North Korea, which has been incompatible for many years, and that there is no hostility or temptation toward China.
In addition, the spokesman said that the ROK will send the under-secretary of state responsible for national security affairs to talk with the Chinese side, hoping to dispel our scruples and doubts.
But if you think about it with the fingers of your feet, it is absolutely impossible for China to agree to this, and South Korea's ambitions are well known, who wants to leave a huge and dangling danger not far from home? Not to mention that the other party is still the "dog leg" of the United States.
Therefore, at the diplomatic press conference, Zhang Yesui, then China's vice foreign minister, expressed a clear attitude on this matter: "Any country should consider the security interests of other countries and regional peace and stability when seeking its own security." The Chinese side clearly opposes the deployment of THAAD and hopes that the relevant parties will handle it carefully. ”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi even more forcefully said: "China will never sit idly by and watch the country's security interests be harmed for no reason!" ”
Wang yi
As a ceremonial state, China's language in diplomatic speeches has always been relatively euphemistic and implicit, and it is extremely rare to express objections so clearly, which shows that we are very dissatisfied with south Korea's deployment of THAAD.
But the United States is unwilling to miss this great opportunity to spy on China's nuclear strength, and on April 8, the United States also responded to the matter: "The deployment of 'THAAD' is not a matter for China, and it will no longer pay attention to China's opinions and continue to deploy as planned." ”
At the same time, South Korean and American officials and Western media have also been creating public opinion, saying that the THAAD is only a defensive weapon, which is urgently needed by South Korea at present, and is absolutely harmless to its neighbors.
They also see these justifications as an olive branch thrown at China, as if China's failure to accept the plan is "unreasonable trouble."
After determining the plan, the South Korean government began to search for a suitable location for deployment, and finally selected Sungju County, which is only more than two hundred kilometers away from Seoul, and the best location is the Seongju Golf Course belonging to the Lotte Group.
Rakuten Group
The chairman of the Lotte Group decided to provide this land to the country in order to show his loyalty. After the agreement between the two sides, construction will begin soon, and the THAAD deployment plan is expected to be completed within 5-7 months.
When this news reached China, it immediately sounded the alarm bell of the Chinese people. As the fifth largest enterprise in Korea, Lotte Group has achieved good results in the snack, tourism, petrochemical, service and other industries.
China is their largest overseas market, with more than 120 stores in 24 provinces, and it can be said that Lotte is making a lot of money in China.
However, Lotte Group's practice of "picking up the bowl to eat meat, putting down chopsticks and scolding the mother" caused great dissatisfaction among Chinese people, who cancelled their membership cards in the local Lotte shopping store, causing them to lose a large number of loyal customers and funds.
Moreover, this "THAAD" plan has been strongly opposed not only in China, but even in South Korea itself.
According to a survey by the mainstream media in South Korea, 46% of the people in favor of the plan, but the number of people who oppose it has also reached 32%.
Some people in South Korea oppose THAAD
In addition to the government's undisclosed and opaque "THAAD" entry process into South Korea, which made the South Korean people feel deceived, the possible loss of the Chinese market is also the main reason for their anger.
South Korea is extremely dependent on the Chinese market, with a quarter of the foreign exchange of export trade coming from China, and Chinese tourists visiting South Korea are as high as 45% of all foreign tourists.
Once the South Korean government insists on deploying THAAD, the income of South Korean tourism, cosmetics, idol culture and other industries will be predictably greatly reduced.
However, the South Korean government ignored the objections of the people and officially put into operation on April 26, 2017, the introduction of two anti-missile system launchers and X-band radars.
Three months later, South Korean President Moon Jae-in negotiated with the United States to add four THAAD launch vehicles.
Moon Jae-in
By 2021, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense and U.S. forces in South Korea will transport construction materials to the base. Coupled with the "rampant" speech of this year's new president, Yoon Seok-yue, we have to start to be prepared for the plans of South Korea and the United States.
But after so many years of trouble, does the public really understand what the "THAAD system" is? Do you really understand what harm it will do to China?
Missiles hit missiles, "THAAD" beyond the ordinary people's cognition
Speaking of which, it is necessary to first understand the relevant characteristics of the THAAD system.
First of all, the full name of the "THAAD" system is "Terminal High-Altitude Area Air Defense System", which is a missile defense system developed by the US military since the late 1980s, which can flexibly cope with different combat methods.
Unlike in the past, the THAAD system can be maneuverably deployed, and can intercept targets multiple times simultaneously in and out of the atmosphere.
The United States successfully conducted the THAAD interceptor missile test
To develop this behemoth, the U.S. military and Lockheed Martin spent $3.2 billion in the exploration and verification phase alone, and $4 billion in the development phase like a burn. Together with production costs and other miscellaneous consumption, the total development of the THAAD system cost $7.21 billion.
After investing a lot of energy and money, the "THAAD system" finally came out, and the first batch of 48 interceptors, 6 sets of launchers and 2 sets of fire control and communication devices were produced.
Before the advent of this system, the "Patriot" series, also used as a defensive device, was the main equipment of the United States, and the most advanced "Patriot" 3 had a counter-missile range of only 30 kilometers, which was 60 kilometers less defensive than the Israeli "Arrow" system, which was also a defensive system.
But as soon as THAAD appeared, it broke the deadlock. As an important part of the new US missile defense program, the THAAD is more powerful in actual combat than people think.
Its range reaches 300 kilometers, the maximum interception altitude is 180 kilometers, and the protected area is directly expanded by 5 times.
Install the THAAD appliance
Secondly, the interception accuracy of THAAD has also reached a new height.
The Patriot series exploded mainly on its own, and then used fragments to intercept incoming missiles. Although this method can also intercept missiles, the accuracy is not high, and the scrap rate is extremely high.
THAAD, on the other hand, has made a comprehensive upgrade in this regard, which can directly fire interceptors and solve combat targets one-on-one.
Moreover, the system has a high starting point and is currently the only device capable of intercepting missiles simultaneously in and out of the atmosphere.
At the same time, the entire combat process of "THAAD" has also been correspondingly improved, reducing the manual utilization rate to the minimum and truly realizing fully automatic operation.
In actual combat, once the early warning satellites and detectors detect the missiles issued by the enemy, the ground-based radar will immediately track the target and transmit the tracked target information back to the command control and combat management communication system.
Schematic diagram of the radar composition of the THAAD system
At this point, the system analyzes the missile according to the program that has been entered, and then the control system gives the battle plan.
When the target data is transmitted to the interceptor ready to be fired, the control system will order the interceptor to fire.
The interceptor then flew in the direction of the established combat target. In the process, it can correct and update the location of the target several times.
It only takes 16 seconds for it to reach its combat position. Before intercepting the target, the seeker on the warhead will also process the target image and confirm the aiming point, and determine that the target is accurate before directly colliding with it, thereby destroying the combat target.
THAAD's self-supplied ground-based radar also records the entire process and transmits it back to the control system. If the system detects that the target has not been completely destroyed, a secondary interception is also carried out.
Structural diagram of the "THAAD" system intercepting the kinetic energy killer
It is precisely because of its strong anti-nuclear capabilities that the THAAD system has been favored by countries such as Israel and Japan. Because these countries are geographically small, only a few systems are needed to achieve complete coverage, and the missile defense project at the national level is directly banned.
Introduced here, you may still have some doubts, "THAAD" is a defense system, as long as we do not attack will not start, why should we be so worried about the deployment of "THAAD" in South Korea?
That's because, although THAAD is named a defensive system, its function can be both a shield and an offensive spear.
What is the impact on China?
Over the years, with the continuous development of China's economic and military strength, our position in the world has become higher and higher, but it has also "annoyed" the "world hegemon" of the United States.
They have waited for such a good opportunity to spy on China's nuclear strength, and naturally they will not easily hand it. So in the name of protecting South Korea's security, they planted "eyeliner" in Seoul.
South Korea and the United States launched a press conference on the "THAAD" issue
Even South Koreans know that the United States is drunk, and Dr. Lee Cungen of the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy said helplessly: "We are all very clear that THAAD is deployed in South Korea, and we may not have any practical benefits." This is to protect the defense systems of the United States and Japan, but we are not free in terms of security and need to rely heavily on the United States. ”
While China has never minded other countries developing defense projects, THAAD's radar system has become a knife in our necks.
As a defense system, its maximum detection distance exceeds the distance it should have, and the detection radius is as high as 2300 kilometers.
This means that once the THAAD system is used in Seoul, all nuclear operations from South Korea to the vicinity of Shanxi Province on the mainland, to Russia and all of North Korea will be completely exposed to the eyes of the US military.
At that time, military exercises such as fighters, warships, and missile launches in the northeast and north China can be detected.
The scope of the deployment of the THAAD system in Japan and South Korea can be spied on
The "THAAD" system is also specially equipped with two-color infrared imaging guidance for China's hypersonic flying weapons.
Although the radar itself has no offensive power, it is not affected by time, climate and distance, nor does it need to change orbits, take pictures, and once the war starts, it can be put into use immediately. The role it plays is not a substitute for lethal weapons.
The US media also admitted that the THAAD system's radar is placed in the front or rear edge, and its functions and roles have exceeded its own purpose.
If South Korea's THAAD system is officially put into use, every military exercise and experiment in North China and East China will be recorded by the United States, and the new weapons we develop will be discovered by the United States in the first time.
Its own interceptor can also be used as a missile to launch directly through North Korea to attack China's capital and other important areas.
Therefore, the completion of the base of the South Korean "THAAD" system poses a great potential danger to China, Russia and North Korea, which is why the mainland is firmly opposed to this matter.
Many US media have the idea of schadenfreude about the DEPLOYMENT OF THE SYSTEM in South Korea by the United States, believing that once this is successful, "some of China's medium- and long-range missiles may be shot down before they even come out of the atmosphere."
However, the Chinese government will absolutely not allow such a situation to arise, and if there are restrictions, there will be counter-restrictions, and we will also take a variety of preventive measures to resist the "invasion" of the United States.