US missile-defense gear in South
SEOUL, South Korea — U.S. missile launchers and other equipment needed to set up a controversial missiledefense system have arrived in South Korea, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said today, a day after North Korea test-launched four ballistic missiles into the ocean near Japan.
The plan to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, this year has angered not only North Korea but also China and Russia, which see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.
Washington and Seoul say the system is defensive and not meant to be a threat to Beijing or Moscow.
The U.S. military said that THAAD is meant to intercept and destroy short- and mediumrange ballistic missiles during the last part of their flights.
On Monday, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles in an apparent protest against ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. The missiles flew about 620 miles on average; three landed in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone, according to South Korean and Japanese officials.
The North’s state media said today that leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ballisticrocket-launching drill, a likely reference to the four launches reported by Seoul and Tokyo. Involved in the drills were artillery units tasked with Agency.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the missiles fired by the North were believed to be “improved versions” of Scud missiles. South Korean experts say North Korea’s extended-range Scuds and midrange Rodong missiles are capable of hitting Japan, including U.S. military bases in Okinawa.
U.S. Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in the military’s statement: “Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea.”