MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Friday, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Washington Times that South Korea should pay for the defense system, which costs $1 billion. Representatives of the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that Seoul had not received US demands to pay for the THAAD despite Trump’s statements.
"I think (the focus of his interview) was placed on keeping (the terms of) the deal reached between the two countries," Yun told reporters, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
On Sunday, US National Security Adviser Herbert Raymond McMaster reaffirmed that Washington, and not Seoul, should pay for the THAAD deployment. McMaster added that the terms of the deal would remain in force until the talks to renegotiate the agreement.
Earlier in the day, spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of National Defense Moon Sang-gyun said that Seoul would not renegotiate the cost of the THAAD deployment.
The agreement on deploying the THAAD system was reached between the United States and South Korea in July 2016, and the first components of the system started to arrive in the country in early March. The agreement implies that Seoul provides land for the system while Washington pays for its installation and maintenance.
According to media reports, citing the South Korean Ministry of Defense, Seoul is expecting to fully station the system as early as June 2017.
