If one reads South Korean newspapers, one can clearly see that many locals have become perplexed and offended by the crisis in their country’s relations with China which, seemingly, came out of the blue. But one cannot help but be puzzled by this reaction, since the crisis was totally predictable and, as a matter of fact, was predicted.

There is little reason to doubt that relations between Seoul and Beijing have dramatically deteriorated in the last two weeks, after the U.S. and ROK announced their plan to deploy the THAAD anti-missile defense system on the peninsula, purportedly in order to deter or neutralize a possible North Korean missile attack.