The two allies have not yet revealed exactly when and where in the South the system would be deployed but said they were in the final stage of selecting a potential venue.
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It added that the North carried out back-to-back tests of a powerful new medium-range missile on June 22, which sparked swift worldwide condemnation.
Missiles during a mass military parade at Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s nuclear test and multiple ballistic missile tests, including the recent intermediate-range ballistic missile launches, highlight the grave threat that North Korea poses to the security and stability of South Korea as well as to the entire Asia-Pacific region, the release said.
North Korea acquiring the ability to launch missiles from submarines would be an alarming development for rivals and neighbors because missiles from submerged vessels are harder to detect. Following the reports of continued testing, a Pentagon spokesperson, Commander Gary Ross, has once again condemned the dictator’s actions.
On Saturday, the North test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine, but it appeared to have failed after launch.
“Through such remarks, North Korea wants to widen the schism between the United States and China, and show that Beijing, Russia and Pyongyang are in the same boat”.
North Korea and the United States remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War, in which Washington sided with the South, ended only with a truce. The Thaad system comes with powerful radar that can cover more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
The U.S. Strategic Command also said that the missile was tracked over the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where it apparently fell.
Visitors walk past replicas of South Korean Hawk surface-to-air missiles at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul on Friday. “Even with frequent testing, North Korea’s SLBM program still faces significant technical challenges and will likely require several years to deliver an operational system”, he said.
The U.S. government last week imposed penalties on Kim and 10 other top officials for alleged human rights abuses.
North Korea on Monday warned it would take “physical action” against South Korea and the United States for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system which is expected to be deployed in Seoul by the end of 2017.
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The North said it will take an unspecified “physical counter-action” as soon as the THAAD location is announced. But given that the Musudan IRBM has an estimated range of more than 3000 km, and is thus more of a threat to the USA naval base in Guam than to South Korea, it is likely that this sudden announcement of THAAD deployment was led by the US.
