South Korean and US defence officials said on Sunday that they would begin formal talks on the deployment on the Korean peninsula of a US missile defence system to counter the growing threat from North Korea.
The announcement followed a North Korean rocket launch that the US and its allies condemned as a covert ballistic missile test. “It has been decided to formally start talks on the possibility of deploying the THAAD system to S Korea as part of steps to bolster the missile defence of the Korea-US alliance,” said Yoo Jeh-Seung, the South’s deputy defence minister for policy.
There has been speculation for years about the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system - one of the most advanced in the world - to the South, one of Washingto n’s main Asian allies.
The US insists that it is a deterrent necessitated by the North’s advancing ballistic missile programme, while China and Russia argue that it would undermine stability and could trigger an arms race in a delicately balanced region. “The Korea-US alliance had no choice but to take such a defence action because North Korea staged a strategic provocation and is refusing to have a dialogue,” Yoo said.