MOSCOW (Sputnik) — South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has told lawmakers that Seoul is not mulling any additional deployments of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.
Kang reiterated that the THAAD system deployment is aimed at protecting South Korea and US troops stationed in the country from missile threats from North Korea.
"Let me be clear on this. As explained on many occasions before, the THAAD system is a self-defense measure that has nothing to do with the MD [US-led missile defense networks]," the minister said.
The final units of the THAAD were deployed in early September after North Korea had launched several missiles and conducted a nuclear test, however, the military unit and specialists operating were not fully in place at that time.
Most recently, Beijing has again urged the US to remove THAAD from South Korea, with officials from the South Korean presidential office saying that the issue would be discussed ahead of a planned November meeting of the countries' leaders.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam on November 10-11.
