South Korea has announced the deployment of an advanced anti-missile system in Seongju county in the country’s south.
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The interview came after South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said that the decision to deploy the THAAD system in South Korea is linked to the build-up of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
“There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for USA world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea are confirmed”, North Korea’s military said early on Monday.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said Monday she agreed on the US missile deployment because North Korea has openly threatened to launch nuclear and missile attacks on South Korea.
Defense Department spokesman Gary Ross told reporters North Korea continues to engage in provocations despite condemnations from the global community, South Korean newspaper Herald Business reported.
An official with South Korea’s Defense Ministry told CNN the USA and South Korea “will be deploying THAAD for combat as soon as possible, by the end of next year at the latest”.
“By operating the U.S. THAAD battery in Seongju, we will be able to better protect one half to two-thirds of our citizens from North Korean nuclear and missile threats”, the ministry said in a statement.
The THAAD system will be paid for by the United States.
While the ruling Saenuri Party argued the THAAD system is crucial to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threat, the opposition parties warned that the missile system could fail to fully protect the nation.
The defense ministry’s deputy minister for policy Yoo Jeh-seung explains the government’s decision to deploy the THAAD in Seongju on July 13, 2016. But thousands took to the streets today in Seongju town, carrying banners reading “We absolutely oppose THAAD deployment”, Yonhap news agency reported.
“As the United States will not accept our demand for the immediate withdrawal of the sanctions measure, we will be taking corresponding actions in steps”, KCNA said on Monday.
“Nevertheless, it is clear that North Korea is ensuring that the facility is in a state of readiness that would allow the conduct of future nuclear tests should the order come from Pyongyang”, it added. He said the defence chiefs of the countries approved the decision.
THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin Corp and created to defend against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles by intercepting them high in the Earth’s atmosphere, or outside it.
About 5,000 residents in the Seongju county rallied earlier in the day near the site, with some writing in blood to protest against the deployment, according to local media reports.
A group of residents arrived at the Defence Ministry in Seoul on Wednesday to voice their opposition.
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“He is now on a hard labor sentence and whether this will change or not, we are not sure”, Park said, adding that he last spoke with Kim shortly before his imprisonment.
