S Korea, US to deploy more anti-missile defences: Seoul

TIL Desk/World/Seoul/ South Korea and the United States will deploy more of the anti-missile defences hated by China in response to Sunday’s nuclear test by North Korea, Seoul’s defence ministry said today.

Two launchers of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system are already operational, but public concern about the possible environmental impact of the US system forced Seoul to suspend the installation.

“Four remaining launchers will soon be temporarily deployed through consulations between South Korea and the US to counter growing nuclear and missile threats from the North,” the ministry said in a statement.

The THAAD launchers are sited on a golf course-turned-US military base in Seongju County, 300 kilometres (188 miles) south of Seoul. The deployment has infuriated China, which has long argued it will destabilise the region and has retaliated against Seoul through unofficial economic sanctions.