S. Korea, US Begin Consultations For Resuming THAAD Deployment

South Korea and the United States have begun talks on the matter of resuming the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on South Korean soil.

"As for the deployment of six (THAAD) launchers, South Korea and the U.S. will make a decision after consultations. Such discussion is currently going on, but further consultations are needed for the specific issues of when and how," the spokesman at the Ministry of National Defense Moon Sang-gyun said Monday, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

The consultations include the size of an area subject to the measure under the decision by an inter-agency task force on the issue.

Moon noted that Seoul and Washington were expected to launch full-swing talks on additional THAAD launchers’ deployment in the near future.

South Korea had agreed to provide the US Forces Korea (USFK) with a former golf course in Seongju, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to house a THAAD battery.

A "small-sized" environmental survey has been under way there since December last year in a decision by the country's former Park Geun-hye administration.

Two THAAD interceptor launchers are already operational at the site, along with powerful X-band radar, and a fire control and communication system. Four other launchers remain stored at a nearby USFK base.