SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Liberty Korea Party accused President Moon Jae-in on Saturday of sending the wrong signal that the U.S. THAAD missile defense system can be withdrawn at any time, a day after Moon said this week's deployment of additional launchers is only tentative.
South Korea has installed the four additional THAAD launchers in the southeastern town of Seongju, completing the deployment of a full six-launcher battery, despite fierce protests from villagers and liberal-leaning critics.
On Friday night, Moon issued a statement asking for people's understanding, saying the deployment was the best possible decision he could take in the current situation in order to protect the lives and safety of the people from North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Moon also said, however, that the deployment is tentative and a final decision on whether to keep the battery permanently stationed will be made after a thorough assessment of the battery's impact on the environment.
The opposition party criticized Moon for highlighting the deployment's tentativeness.
"President Moon only repeated the words 'tentative deployment,'" Rep. Kang Hyo-sang, spokesman for the conservative LKP, said in a briefing. "This is a double play that sends the signal that THAAD can be pulled out at any time."
Kang said the decision to deploy THAAD was the only praiseworthy thing the Moon administration has done so far, but Friday's statement from Moon was full of excuses toward anti-THAAD forces and China, which has strongly protested the deployment.
Read the full story at YonhapNews