[THE INVESTOR] South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho called on the country to stay vigilant against possible economic retaliation from China on Seoul for reaching an agreement with Washington to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in South Korea to step up defense against North Korea’s military provocations.

“We believe Beijing will make a conscious decision to keep the economy and politics separated, but we are nevertheless establishing contingency plans,” Yoo told lawmakers at the National Assembly’s finance planning committee meeting. 

China has been openly showing its discomfort at the recent decision by the two allies.

According to a July 10 issue of the Beijing Times, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a recent visit to Sri Lanka that he hopes “friends of South Korea will think calmly whether the THAAD system is conducive to their national security, to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and to the solution of the nuclear issue on the peninsula.”

Deploying THAAD is an indication for Beijing that Seoul intends to rely less on it to keep North Korea at bay. The move also is not expected to help with relations between Beijing and Washington, which appear to be growing frayed now that the Barack Obama administration is nearing its end.

Addressing criticism that former Korea Development Bank president Hong Kyttack was an international “parachute,” Yoo said the final decision had been made by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Hong was serving as one of the chief risk officers for AIIB this year when he abruptly took leave due to mounting criticism over his role as the head of state-run Korea Development Bank, which under criticism for inadequately restructuring ailing South Korean firms including Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

AIIB recently demoted the position of chief risk officer and installed a new vice president following Hong’s departure.

The bank is expected to soon search for a replacement for Hong so that he can depart permanently once his six-month leave expires.

Yoo conceded that, "Hong has compromised South Korea’s public interest."

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)