US ‘moving forward’ with THAAD deployment in South Korea as North Korean crisis grows
US decision to push ahead with missile defence system comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is reportedly reviewing details of his Guam strike plan
The US and South Korea are “moving forward” to deploy a US missile defence system on the Korean Peninsula, the US Defence Department said, as the North Korean nuclear crisis worsens after Pyongyang announced a plan to fire four missiles near US Pacific island territory Guam.
The announcement came as North Korea reportedly said leader Kim Jong-un was briefed on plans for missile tests near Guam.
Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, missile system “got initial intercept capability” in May and the US military “continues to build on that capability”. THAAD can shoot down the intermediate-range missiles that North Korea said it plans to fire over Japan and land near Guam.
When asked about the US’s military options against Pyongyang’s Guam strike plan, Manning said: “We have been continuing to watch very closely. Our forces on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the region are ready to deal with any North Korean threat. ”
The new THAAD development comes as Marine Corps General Joe Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, concluded his first three-stop visit in South Korea and arrived in Beijing on Monday. His last visit is Japan. North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme is high on his agenda.
Dunford played down the US’s military options, saying that being prepared against North Korea would be for when diplomatic and economic sanctions failed, the office of South Korea’s president said.