This article explores the neglected connection between race and militarism by focusing on a US missile defense system deployed in South Korea. In September of 2017, the two countries installed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in a rural village. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, this missile defense system was to protect South Korea from attacks by North Korea. The system is integral to US global military strategy, but from the perspective of human security, its benefits are dubious at best. By drawing on a theory of the ‘racial state’ and critical studies of the US empire-state, the article examines two fundamental practices of the neocolonial military relation between the two states: wartime Operational Control of the South Korean military and extraterritoriality of US bases in South Korea. It argues that these neocolonial practices in which the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system deployment is embedded reflect ‘the historicist racial ruling’ that denies self-rule for Koreans and its internalization by Koreans who support the unequal military relation. It also analyzes how the South Korean racial state promotes internal homogeneity and otherizes North Korea to bolster national security through the missile defense system.

本文着眼于部署在韩国的美国导弹防御系统，探讨了种族与军国主义之间被忽视的联系。2017年9月，两国在一个农村安装了终端高空区域防御系统。该导弹防御系统由洛克希德马丁公司制造，旨在保护韩国免受朝鲜的攻击。该系统是美国全球军事战略不可或缺的一部分，但从人类安全的角度来看，它的好处充其量是值得怀疑的。本文借鉴“种族国家”理论和对美帝国国家的批判性研究，考察了两国新殖民军事关系的两种基本实践：战时对韩国军队的作战控制和美国基地的治外法权。在韩国。它认为，这些嵌入终端高空区域防御系统部署的新殖民主义做法反映了“历史主义种族统治”，即否认韩国人的自治及其被支持不平等军事关系的韩国人内化。它还分析了韩国种族国家如何通过导弹防御系统促进内部同质化和其他化朝鲜以加强国家安全。