US reveals time to deploy THAAD missile system in South Korea

The US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system will be deployed in South Korea by the end of June this year.

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Photo: DefenceIndustrydaily.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency on February 26 quoted the country's Ministry of Defense as saying the above information.

According to Yonhap, next week, South Korea hopes to arrange a site for this purpose in Seongju county, 296 km south of the capital Seoul.

In the immediate future, the US and South Korea plan to use land from the Lotte Golf Club company in exchange for space elsewhere instead of using the site as a military base.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense explained that it is currently examining the possible impacts of THAAD on the environment of Seongju County.

If the plan is implemented, South Korea will be the first country where the US deploys THAAD outside its territory.

The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system is designed to intercept low- and medium-altitude missiles with a range of no more than 200km.

According to the agreement signed between South Korea and the US in mid-2016, the THAAD system will be present in South Korea in 2017.

The South Korean Presidential Office said the decision to deploy the US THAAD missile interceptor system in South Korea is for self-defense, to protect national security and people's lives from North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

The presidential office official stressed that Pyongyang's increasing nuclear and missile threats are a matter of survival for the country and its people.

According to TPO