The US military on Tuesday said its controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system, which was deployed last week in South Korea, is now up and operational.
The THAAD system “is operational and has the ability to intercept North Korean missiles and defend the Republic of Korea”, a spokesman for US Forces Korea said in a statement.
THAAD was deployed to South Korea by the US in response to North Korea’s increased missile and nuclear tests, but the defence system has drawn sharp opposition from China and Russia as their territories are within the system’s range, CNN reported.
China again expressed its displeasure on Tuesday, urging both sides to “stop the deployment immediately”.
“We will also firmly take necessary measures to safeguard our own interests,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
The system may have been deployed, but according to a US defence official, its operation is “limited”.
Nevertheless, the US official said the system is capable of shooting down a North Korean missile, adding that the US hopes to install additional units to increase coverage over South Korea.
The anti-missile system is not expected to be fully operational until the end of the year, according to the report.
South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun said at a briefing last week that equipment, including launchers, combat control stations and radar, had been deployed at the site in North Gyeongsang province and would be imminently operational.
“These things are now in place, so you can connect them to get the operational
capability from early on — that’s what ‘within days’ means,” he said.