THAAD deployment will be helpful for national defense: Seoul

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- Deployment of the United States' advanced missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea will be helpful in defending the country from North Korean threats, but the country has no plan to announce any decision on the matter in the near future, a defense official said Friday.

"Our government will consider every measure to prepare against North Korea's missile threats," the official said on the condition of anonymity. "If U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD, it will help our national security and defense," he said.

U.S.-based Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the day that the U.S. could announce next week that the two countries are in negotiations over the THAAD system.

"The South Korean government has not been offered negotiations by the U.S. government," the official said, refuting the U.S. report.

He added that the negotiations are now occurring at the U.S. government level in regards to deployment by American troops in South Korea.

The latest comments by the defense official mark one of the burgeoning signs that South Korea is warming up to the idea of the deployment of the THAAD system.

Earlier this month, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said during a news interview that South Korea needs to consider deploying the THAAD system, a comment that came about three weeks after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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