By Park Chan-Kyong
Installing a controversial US missile defence system in South Korea was never going to be easy but, caught between Beijing's opposition and American insistence, the country's new president has a strategy: delay.
Seoul suspended deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system this week following a furious campaign of economic sanctions and diplomatic protests by Beijing against the US missile shield, dealing a blow to Washington's regional security policy.
Officially, the delay is to allow for a new, comprehensive environmental impact assessment, but analysts say the move is a strategic delay by new President Moon Jae-In to dodge the tricky diplomatic situation he inherited.
"South Korea is caught between China and the United States... it can't turn its back on either China, its largest trading partner, or the United States, its key ally," Chonnam National University political science professor Yoon Sung-Suk told AFP.
The new government is undertaking a delicate balancing act, saying the two THAAD launchers already in place are safe, but suspending further deployment until completion of the probe -- ordered after an allegedly botched roll out of the missile shield by the previous government.
"Moon is playing for time, trying to avoid irritating Washington but find a way to wiggle out of the current diplomatic impasse," Yoon added, saying he could be hoping that by the time the probe is finished the security landscape will have changed.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily