THAAD is ready, but who will pay for it?

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is now ready to set up in South Korea. It will be fully available within a few days, according to the official.

South Korea and the US have been allies since Korean War in the 1950s. Recently, South Korea government decided to introduce THAAD in the Korean base with the cooperation with the US troop.

China has expressed deep concern about the deployment. It seemed to have feared the possibility that Chinese missiles would be struck when aiming at the US. And, Lotte, a popular Korean company, was attacked with boycotting in China by people opposing to the setting of THAAD.

On the other hand, the alliance between South Korea and the US is not so stable. Donald Trump, the President of the US, claims that Korean government should pay one billion USD for preparing THAAD in Korea. He would believe that it is an acceptable cost for Korea to make sure of the security of the nation. However, Korean government declined the demand.

Aljazeera: Seoul rejects Trump demand it pays for missile system

In an ordinary sense, the US is responsible for the cost of THAAD, because it belongs to the US. Also, it is unrealistic Korean government will pay for THAAD obeying Trump's sudden request. Trump has repeatedly claimed that nations other than the US should pay the fee for security the US guarantees, such as Japan for the US troop in Okinawa and Mexico for the great border wall the US is planning to build. I sense his statements are absurd.

On the other hand, the tension among North Korea is still seriously high. It is terribly true that Trump is one of the keys to making change the current situation.