Hasty redeployment of US missiles from South Korea to Middle East leaves Seoul rattled

South Korea’s president has sought to reassure the public that the country is able to deter threats from the North It has been almost a decade since the sleepy South Korean village of Seongju was transformed overnight into a key location in the country’s ability to counter an attack from North Korea. Early on a spring morning, camouflaged trucks carrying the US-made terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) missile-defence system rolled into Seongju, as the country’s government ignored protests from locals who said the deployment would make them a target for Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles. The conservative government in Seoul, backed by Washington, insisted that Thaad was the most effective way to locate and destroy North Korean missiles before they threatened the South and the 28,500 US troops stationed there. The deployment also angered China and Russia, which said Thaad’s powerful radar could compromise their security. But nine years on, the US has reportedly started moving parts of the system, along with other military hardware, out of South Korea for deployment in its war against Iran. US media has reported that the Pentagon is moving parts of a Thaad system to the Middle Ea