US to Consider Diplomatic Efforts With North Korea Before Deploying THAAD

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will use diplomacy and not deploy the THAAD anti-ballistic missile system to South Korea if Pyongyang agrees to denuclearization, US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"We have said that if we can get to denuclearization there’s no need to deploy THAAD," Kerry said on Tuesday, explaining that Washington’s goal was to resolve the situation with North Korea diplomatically.

The United States is not in search of conflict, Kerry added, but is "simply trying to be in a position where we can defend against any and all threats," Kerry noted.

"We hope very much that over the course of the next weeks and months, the DPRK will come to some wisdom with regard to its [nuclear] program, recognizing that we are joined together with other nations at the United Nations in our readiness to put in place some additional, tough measures to make clear that we are serious," Kerry warned.

Kerry’s remarks come after Washington announced earlier in the week that it was planning to begin discussion with Seoul on deploying the THAAD anti-ballistic missile system to South Korea to defend the region against North Korea’s development of ballistic missiles capable.