[Aju News DB]
The United States and South Korea announced an agreement Friday on the deployment of an advanced US missile system on the Korean peninsula to intercept North Korean missiles, despite opposition from China and Russia.
The accord followed five months of negotiations that began in early February when North Korea conducted nuclear and long-range rocket tests banned under UN resolutions.
South Korea and the United States decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system "as part of a defensive action to guarantee the security of (South Korea) and our people from North Korea's nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats," the defense ministry said in a statement.
The allies are in the final stage of proposing a site for the deployment of a THAAD battery to their defense chiefs, it said. "South Korea and the US are working closely together to deploy the THAAD system as soon as possible."
THAAD will not target countries other than North Korea and will be used only to cope with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the ministry said.
For South Korea, the decision to adopt the US missile system was based on its national security interests to enhance its defense posture against North Korea's advances in nuclear and missile programs.
Russia and China have long voiced opposition to the deployment of a THAAD battery to South Korea, claiming that the US missile shield may undermine the strategic balance in the region.
South Korea and the US have dismissed the concerns, saying the THAAD system is defensive in nature and would only target North Korea.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping said at talks with South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn in Beijing last month that Seoul should be "cautious" about the deployment of a THAAD battery.
China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that Seoul should "attach importance to China's legitimate concern on security and 'cautiously and appropriately' address" the US plan to deploy its THAAD system on the Korean peninsula.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
