The Dong-A Ilbo:
A top U.S. missile defense official will visit Korea again in three months. Some say that it is to accelerate the discussion over the deployment of the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on the Korean Peninsula.
A diplomatic source said on Sunday, “U.S. Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Frank A. Rose will arrive in Seoul on late Thursday and stay for three days.” Assistant Secretary Rose served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for missile defense from 2009 to 2014, playing a key role in missile defense in the U.S. Department of State. He is said to meet with officials from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry and the U.S. Forces in Korea.
Assistant Secretary Rose stayed in Korea on July 2-July 5. Back then, South Korea’s Defense Ministry insisted that his visit is irrelevant to THAAD, saying, “We discussed only space security and other agenda with Assistant Secretary Rose.” Three days later, however, both Seoul and Washington announced that they officially decided to deploy THAAD on the Korean Peninsula.
Though the theme of this visit is known to be cooperation in international security, it is hard to exclude the possibility of a discussion over THAAD. In July, Assistant Secretary Rose visited Japan, South Korea, and China, and appeared to explain the technical and military implications of THAAD to Beijing based on the discussion made between Seoul and Washington. This time, however, he will visit only Japan and South Korea, not China….
