China's THAAD Retaliation and the GATS Rules

Abstract

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ("THAAD"), which is a US' anti-ballistic missile defense system, has been deployed to South Korea earlier in this year. The US and South Korea allegedly agreed to deploy THAAD as a defensive measure to prevent the North Korea's continuous nuclear weapon tests and ballistic missile launches. In response to deployment of THAAD, China has placed economic restrictions on Korea. China blocked charter flights to South Korea without assigning any reasons whatsoever, and Chinese travel agencies stopped the sale of all travel packages to South Korea and even cancelled tours by K-pop stars. In order to determine whether these Chinese retaliation actions could be covered under the WTO jurisprudence.