Defense Department Secretary Ashton Carter has said at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York that the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea will push through, Reuters reported Friday.
David Brunnstrom writes Carter added that China, which has raised concerns over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense deployment, should assist in efforts to counter North Korea’s missile development activities.
“It’s a necessary thing,” Carter said of the planned THAAD deployment.
“It’s between us and the South Koreans; it’s part of protecting our own forces on the Korean peninsula and protecting South Korea,” he added.
North Korea’s missile tests spurred talks between the U.S. and South Korea, but China opposes the agreement over concerns that THAAD could be used to spy on the latter’s territory, Defense News said Friday.
The THAAD system features six truck-mounted launchers, 49 interceptors, a fire control and communications unit and an AN/TPY-2 radar, Aaron Mehta wrote.
Carter has said he believes China can work either with the U.S. and South Korea or bilaterally with North Korea to address the missile concerns, the report said.
