South Korea and the U.S. are reportedly close to finalizing military locations for the THAAD anti-missile defense system
Pyongyang has threatened a “physical response” to plans by Washington and Seoul to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea.
North Korea’s military warned of “physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for U.S. world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea,” Reuters reports.
According to the Associated Press, South Korea’s deputy defense minister, Yoo Jeh Seung, told a nationally televised news conference Friday that Seoul and Washington would quickly deploy the system because North Korea’s growing weapons capabilities pose a big threat to the region.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have grown since last month, when Pyongyang successfully sent a mid-range ballistic missile more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) high. Analysts say this means that North Korea has made progress in its ambition to be able to strike at American forces in the region.
North Korea, which frequently makes grandiose threats, has warned that it will turn South Korea “into a sea of fire and a pile of ashes” if the THAAD deployment goes ahead.