Perceptions of the Deployment of the Thermal High Air Area Defense in the Republic of Korea and the Discussion of Experts and Scholars

Abstract

Despite the rise of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in global economy, this thesis argues that the nation is still greatly limited by other geopolitical actors on the Korean peninsula, namely the United States of America (USA) and the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC). This is reflected in the government of the ROK by having THAAD deployed to the ROK due to giving in to the US government - naturally also being affected by the domestic increased perceived threat of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK) - and stopping the deployment at 6 THAAD units due to deteriorating relations to the Peoples’ Republic of China. On the level of the ROK citizens, the initial approval versus disapproval was mostly in line with political association with the political left versus right; the left traditionally being more reserved than the political right in the issue of increased closeness in the USA-ROK alliance. At the end of the deployment process, the public perception became approving partly due to circumstances such as a missile launches by the DPRK. In the analysis of the global debate among scholars and experts, the majority were found to maintain similar perception of THAAD as their national governments did.