The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea poses a threat to Russia and China and undermines peace and stability in the region, a Russian military expert has said.
"By doing so, conditions are created for solving the nuclear problem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) with military means. This is very dangerous and this may have unpredictable consequences," Konstantin Sivkov, an associate member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
On July 13, Seoul and Washington announced an agreement to install one THAAD battery in the Seongju county by the end of next year, claiming that it is aimed to deter ballistic missiles from the DPRK.
Russia and China have expressed strong objections to the THAAD installation in South Korea, as it damages their security interests and breaks the strategic balance in the region.
Sivkov said the deployment of the territorial missile system would reduce the potential of Russian and Chinese tactical nuclear weapons, which served as a means of nuclear deterrence.
He said the data collected by radars of the system were suited for spotting and monitoring targets not only on the territory of the DPRK, but also China and Russia.
The AN/TPY-2 early missile warning radar can detect a 600-800 km range with a terminal mode, which South Korea plans to adopt, but it can be converted at any time into a forward-based mode that ranges as far as 2,000 km because the two versions have the same hardware.
Thus it is believed that once the system is placed in South Korea, the United States would be able to peer conveniently into China and Russia, posing a threat to the security interests of the two countries and to regional peace.
The expert believed that the deployment of THAAD called for strengthening military cooperation between China and Russia.
In his view, Russia's nuclear potential, which serves as a deterrence to the United States, could complement the potential of China in guaranteeing its national security.
Meanwhile, China's general military might is important for Russia, primarily its ground troops and, to a lesser extent, its navy, which has already become a serious force, as well as its industrial potential, he said.
"Therefore, we are two countries that objectively need each other. Only together we can withstand modern challenges and threats," Sivkov said.
Russia earlier indicated the possibility of deploying missile units in the country's eastern region in response to the deployment of THAAD, while the Chinese Defense Ministry has confirmed recently that Beijing is testing its own anti-missile systems to ratchet up self-defense capabilities.
Sivkov ruled out the possibility of South Korea renouncing the THAAD deployment.
The government in Seoul is a "puppet of the United States," which is really afraid of the DPRK's nuclear capability into the bargain, the expert said.
