THAAD ‘set for actual operation’

South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday that an advanced American anti-missile system here will soon be put into “actual operation” to counter North Korea’s ballistic missile threats.

Hours earlier, Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, told US congressmen that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system will become operational “in the coming days.”

US Forces Korea has already installed some key components of the sophisticated weapon at the deployment site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, despite fierce protests from local residents. Those include a cutting-edge X-band fire control radar and truck-mounted launchers.

Asked about comments by Harris, the ministry’s spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said it means “actual operation.”

“The positioning of some equipment means that South Korea and the US have the capability to cope with North Korea’s provocations,” he said. “It means actual operation.”

He added that the THAAD equipment is currently in “field deployment” at the former golf course that South Korea offered to the USFK, with the allies conducting a joint environmental effect survey of the new military base under the Status of Forces Agreement.

The official said such a field deployment of the equipment is possible without an environmental assessment. Operating the THAAD system is also possible as well before the survey, a process expected to take weeks or months, is done, he added.

Meanwhile, the security chiefs of Seoul and Washington held a 25-minute telephone conversation earlier on Thursday, Seoul’s presidential office said in a press release.

National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and his US counterpart H.R. McMaster discussed THAAD and other security issues, the release said.

“The two sides evaluated that the US Forces Korea's deployment of THAAD is proceeding smoothly in the face of North Korea’s provocative threats, and agreed to further strengthen our military readiness posture through a robust South Korea-US alliance,” the press release reads.

Kim and McMaster also agreed that in close cooperation with the international community, the allies will continue strong sanctions and pressure on the North to change its strategic calculus on its nuclear program and deter its future provocations.

“(The allies) agreed to promptly push for intolerable punitive measures against the North, including a new UN Security Council resolution, should it press ahead with its strategic provocation,” the press release said.

Pyongyang has recently been ratcheting up tensions with its unrelenting saber-rattling, including a failed ballistic missile launch earlier this month and a massive artillery exercise earlier this week. The reclusive state is also seen preparing for another nuclear test.

From news reports (khnews@heraldcorp.com)