The US military will send "strategic assets" to Korea in a stern response to North Korea's firing of another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), South Korea's defense chief said Saturday.
Strategic assets refer to high-profile weapons systems, such as stealth bombers and aircraft carriers.
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Defense Minister Song Young-moo speaks at a news conference on Saturday. (Yonhap) |
In a statement, Defense Minister Song Young-moo said the North's ICBM test is a "grave provocation" that jeopardizes the stability of the peninsula and world peace.
"It's also a reckless act dashing the international community's hopes of eased inter-Korean military tensions," he stressed, recalling Seoul's recent offer of bilateral military talks.
"South Korea and the US jointly fired surface-to-surface missiles, and will have strategic assets deployed (on the peninsula)," Song said. He did not elaborate which assets will be deployed.
He was talking about the allies' combined ballistic missile drills earlier in the day that utilized the South's Hyunmoo-2 and the US Eight Army's ATACMS.
"In addition, (the two sides) will have prompt consultations on the tentative deployment of additional THAAD (interceptor) launchers by the US Forces Korea (USFK)," he said.
Two launchers are already operational at a new USFK base in Seongju, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul.
Shortly after the North's missile launch late Friday night, President Moon Jae-in ordered an "alliance move" for the installation of four more THAAD launchers stored at a southern USFK compound.
It represents a reversal of the Moon administration's stance that the USFK should wait until the completion of an extensive environmental impact assessment. (Yonhap)
