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          South Korea, US to Discuss Deploying Missile Defense System

   by VOA News

   South Korea and the U.S. will formally discuss deploying a missile
   defense system, a South Korean defense official said Sunday, after
   North Korea claimed to have launched a satellite into space.

   According to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the Terminal High
   Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, has a truck-mounted
   launcher that can fire interceptors that destroy ballistic missiles
   "inside or outside the atmosphere."

   "It has been decided to formally start talks on the possibility of
   deploying the THAAD system to South Korea as part of steps to bolster
   the missile defense of the Korea-U.S. alliance," said Yoo Jeh-Seung,
   Seoul's deputy defense minister for policy.

   "The Korea-U.S. alliance had no choice but to take such a defense
   action because North Korea staged a strategic provocation and is
   refusing to have a genuine dialogue on denuclearization," Yoo said in a
   joint briefing with Lieutenant General Thomas Vandal, commander of the
   U.S. Eighth Army based in South Korea.

   But the system is unpopular outside Seoul. Three years ago, when South
   Korea discussed purchasing the U.S.-developed system, China objected,
   citing a risk to its security.

   Beijing once again objected Sunday, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman
   saying the country is "deeply concerned" over the announced
   negotiations. Hua Chunying said the missile defense system will
   escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the region.

   China is North Korea's primary trading partner.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/korea-us-to-discuss-deploying-missile
   -defense-system/3180470.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/korea-us-to-discuss-deploying-missile-defense-system/3180470.html