U.S. not to raise THAAD issue when Carter visits S. Korea next week: official

The United States will not bring up the issue of the THAAD missile defense system when Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visits South Korea next week, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

"After discussions between senior leaders at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and military leaders on the peninsula and at the Pentagon, it was decided that the topic of THAAD will not be discussed during Secretary Carter's trip next week," the official said.

The U.S. wants to deploy a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile interceptor battery to the South, where some 28,500 American troops are stationed, to better defend against North Korea's ballistic missile threats.

But the issue has become one of the most sensitive dilemmas for Seoul as China and Russia see a potential THAAD deployment as a threat to their security interests and have increased pressure on Seoul to reject such a deployment.

In light of such sensitivity, South Korean and U.S. officials have only said there have been no official consultations or decisions on the issue. Ahead of Carter's trip, however, speculation had grown that the American defense chief could officially raise the issue for the first time.

The U.S. official, who spoke strictly on condition of anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity, did not elaborate on why they decided not to raise the issue, including if there was such a request from South Korean officials, and whether the U.S. still sees the need for a THAAD battery in the South.

Carter plans to visit Seoul from April 9-11 for his first face-to-face talks with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo.

Seoul is the second leg of his two-nation trip that will also take him to Japan from April 7-9.

U.S. officials have said that Carter's trip is meaningful in that the two Asian allies are the destination of his first bilateral visits since taking office earlier this year, except for his trip to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

In Seoul, he is expected to reaffirm the U.S. security commitment to the South. (Yonhap)