'THAAD' ready to protect South Korea, announces US military

Seoul : The US Army announced last week that the ‘THAAD’ missile defense system which was deployed in South Korea was now ready for action. On the other hand, China objected to this deployment of the US and warned that necessary actions will be taken against it.

THAAD batteries and missiles have been set up at a golf course at Seongju, 200 km southeast of South Korean capital of Seoul. After publishing the photographs to the media, Colonel Rob Manning, the Spokesperson of US forces in South Korea said that the system will be ready for action within a week. It was said that it would take few weeks to operationalize ‘THAAD’. However the US Military proved it wrong by getting the missiles in action, way before the allotted time.

South Korea has expressed satisfaction on operationalization of THAAD. If North Korea launches missiles towards South Korea, then we have the ability to destroy it in the air, stated South Korean Defense Ministry. The United States and South Korea have announced to increase the capability of this system by the end of the year. South Korean Defense Ministry has also stated that it is planning to operationalize some more missile defense systems by the end of this year.

Just a few days ago, there were some differences in the United States and South Korea over the deployment of THAAD. US President Trump had stated that South Korea would have to bear the expenses of the missile defense system deployed by the United States. However South Korea had refused to do so. But in just a few hours, National Security Advisor McMaster announced that the US would bear the expenses of ’THAAD’ and thus put an end to this spate.

Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has expressed concern over the deployment of ’THAAD’ in South Korea. Criticizing it, the Spokesperson of Foreign Affairs Ministry, ‘Geng Shuang’ said the deployment has added to the tensions in the Korean peninsula.