'no Plan to Discuss Thaad in S. Korea-us Meeting'

By Jun Ji-hye

Seoul and Washington have no plans to discuss whether to deploy key interceptors of the US-led missile defense (MD) system on the Korean Peninsula during the upcoming meeting of defense chiefs, the defense ministry said, Monday.

"As far as I know, the issue related to THAAD deployment has not been included in the agenda for the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM)," Kim Min-seok, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense, told a regular briefing.

Defense chiefs of the two countries are scheduled to sit down for their annual meeting on Oct. 23 in Washington.

THAAD stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, the installation of which would provide an integral part of the US missile shield aimed at neutralizing ballistic missiles fired from North Korea

Whether or not the US will deploy the THAAD battery on its base stationed in South Korea has been a controversial and sensitive issue here. Such a deployment has been widely regarded as an attempt by Washington to get its Asian ally to join the MD system and contain the influence of China and Russia

The battery ostensibly targets North Korean ballistic missiles, but China and Russia claim they are the real targets of any such system on the peninsula, thus raising concerns that deployment would spark tensions in the Northeast Asia region.

The spokesman adhered to the existing stance of the ministry that Washington "has not discussed the matter with Seoul," and he has...