MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The possible placement of elements of the United States-led global missile defense shield in South Korea may seriously complicate the political and military situation and may trigger an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region, Gen. Yury Yakubov, coordinator of the Russian Defense Ministry's general inspectors' department, told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
"If the Americans really decide to deploy THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) interceptor systems and long-range radars as elements of their global defense shield in the territory of South Korea, all neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region will have to respond to the emergence of such a real military threat from the U.S. one way or another. And this situation, for its part, will lead to a new arms race in the region, which already has nuclear weapons," according to Yakubov, who commanded Russia's Far East Military District in 1999-2006.
The Defense Ministry official offered his comments in response to media reports concerning Seoul's debate surrounding the possible deployment of U.S. THAAD interceptors in South Korea.
Forces of Russia's Far East Military District used to thoroughly monitor the situation on the Korean peninsula, where "tensions escalated from time to time," the general said.
"But today, if real missile interceptor systems are deployed there, we will have to boost our strategic means in this region in order to be able to properly respond to elements of the American missile defense shield, should they appear there," he said.
"It is unlikely that China and other countries of North-East Asia would like to see U.S. missile defense batteries stationed in South Korea, " Yakubov said.
"If batteries of U.S. missile interceptor missiles appear in the territory of South Korea, which is located near industrial centers of the People's Republic of China, this may pose the real threat of provoking an arms race on the part of China in this case because it will also be forced to enhance its security," he added.