The Hankyoreh:
MIT professor Theodore Postol says instead of THAAD, South Korea could prepare an alternative system
“While it is impossible to know how much progress North Korea has made on the KN-11 and other submarine-launched ballistic missiles, developing the KN-11 would inevitably neutralize THAAD.”
The remarks were made on Oct. 2 by Theodore Postol, an emeritus professor at MIT, during a visit to South Korea. Postol met the leadership of the opposition Minjoo Party, including Choo Mi-ae, at the National Assembly on Oct. 2 to discuss the issue of deploying THAAD on the Korean Peninsula.
Postol has studied missile defense systems for decades and served as a consultant for the chiefs of staff of the US Navy.
Postol was in South Korea to deliver the keynote address for an event marking the 9th anniversary of the Oct. 4 Inter-Korean Summit Agreement called “2016: A Critical Year for THAAD and Northeast Asia,” which was held at the 63 Convention Center in Seoul on Oct. 3.“
I believe that THAAD’s actual performance in battle would be poor. There are a number of countermeasures that opponents could implement, and these could be used to neutralize THAAD,” Postol said during the meeting on Oct. 2.“
Making [military] plans does not actually bring about the desired results,” Postol said, citing the example of the missile defense provided by the American Patriot interceptors during the Gulf War.
Shortly before the Gulf War in 1991, the Patriot missile defense system posted a 100% success rate, reaching goals in 17 out of 17 tests. But when the system was used in actual battles, the success rate fell to 0% in 44 attempts. Patriots failed to shoot down a single Iraqi Scud missile.
“South Korea could prepare an alternative system that would be appropriate for the threats that it faces. Some advantages of implementing an alternative defense system would be that Seoul could operate and develop the system itself instead of defending upon contractors,” Postol said. He believes that it would be better for South Korea to acquire its own defense system through methods including receiving technological assistance from the US government.“
As a responsible political party we intend to find appropriate alternatives for the future of the country and for security threats instead of forcing the South Korean public to take sides on this issue,” Chu said in reference to the THAAD deployment at the beginning of the meeting.
The Minjoo Party is planning to decide upon its official position on the THAAD deployment after the meeting on Oct. 2 and after soliciting opinions from experts.
